Steel Embers
by ItaSaku9492
Summary: Forced into an unwanted marriage, Lady Kagome Heir to the Eastern Lands, and Lord Sesshomaru Heir to the Western Lands, try to learn how to deal with this unwanted circumstance. Will the two ever find peace within each other?
1. Chapter 1

This is my 1st Fanfic so please be nice. Criticism and plot ideas are always nice and appreciated as long as it is constructive. :)

**I do not, nor will I ever, own Inuyasha. Except maybe in my dreams. ;) However, I do own any and all OC characters that may appear in this story.**

They had finally arrived. As Kagome looked at the huge palace that loomed outside of her carriage's window, she couldn't help the feeling of nervousness and irritation that came along with the sight.

She had plead and fought with her parents continuously for the past two years, ever since they had started really talking and acknowledging her prearranged marriage between her and the young demon Lord of the West, to call off this agreement between the two Lands . She felt like the East Lands that her parents ruled over didn't really need the protection that the West could provide, and that the West was only using the marriage to expand their territory, not as a gesture of good will like they claimed.

When that statement failed to outrage her parents, she told them that they would probably just keep her around long enough for it to look as if they had accepted her into the family and then kill her off and claim that she fell ill to some incurable disease. Sure they would hire the best doctors and priestesses around to come and "examine" her and then proceed to offer them huge amounts of riches, effectively buying their silence and cooperation with the Lord's evil plans for the disposal of the their daughter and New Lady of the West.

The man that she was promised to, Lord Sesshomaru, was known all over the lands for his cruelty and cold unfeelingness. Another well-known fact about Lord Sesshomaru was his hatred of humans, so in Kagome's mind, her idea of an attempt being made on her life was not too far-fetched. However, after her outbursts, her parents would just reply to her saying that she was just being overdramatic and stubborn and that she had known of the marriage arrangement between the East and West Lands ever since she was five years of age. They would say that she should have known that it was unavoidable and accepted it by now.

"You should put aside your wishes of being an independent ruler and accept the responsibilities that come along with being the Lady Heir of the East and besides," Kagome recalled her father's serious face along with the memory, "it would be considered dishonorable to call off the arrangement now. It would do nothing but bring shame to the Higurashi family and strife to the Eastern Lands. You should think of your people and court not your own selfish desires." He would say.

That statement and the look on her father's face would always shut Kagome up. She honestly did not know if she was being selfish or not with her unwillingness to marry the Heir of the West. Part of her felt like it was in her people's best interest for her not to marry the young prince. All of the Lands knew that Lord Sesshomaru ruled with an iron fist. _'What would keep him from turning her home lands upside down with demons ruling over all the provinces with humans as their slaves or working underneath them_?' She wondered. '_I would die before I allow that to happen to my people.' _

Where the Heir of the West was known for his arrogance and power, she Kagome, could match him in stubbornness. The fact that Lord Sesshomaru could kill her in the blink of an eye would not stop her from opposing him. She was not one to sit back and watch others be treated unfairly in any circumstance. '_I bet our time together will be filled with lots of arguments' _she thought with a mischievous smirk. '_Maybe if I can manage to piss him off enough before we get married he'll send me back home and I won't have to deal with this unfavorable situation.' _

Even though to be sent back to her family would be considered one of the highest disgraces a female could undergo, it didn't bother Kagome in the least. She was never one to care about what other people thought of her. She was known to be very outspoken and impulsive, never one to keep her inner thoughts to herself (except when needed), and spoke exactly what came to her mind. A trait that would make many women in her time be considered undesirable and disrespectful. However, Kagome possessed great intelligence and reason behind her words, and while impulsive she may be, nothing she said could ever be called stupid. Her father called on her wisdom and advice many a time when he made decisions in relation to their people's needs and requests.

"Lady Kagome?" One of her personal escorts silently calling to her abruptly wrenching her from her personal thoughts. "We have arrived."

"Thank you Haichi." She quietly acknowledged.

As Haichi opened the door to her carriage, Kagome couldn't help but to look and study her surroundings. '_It is truly a very beautiful palace.'_ She grudgingly admitted. '_It's a lot bigger than my own family's palace.' _She thought eyebrows unknowingly drawing together beautifully.

The front grounds of the palace were covered in Sakura trees and it was fall so the petals were falling down all around her and her escorts, who were to stay with her during her stay at the Western Palace. There was a small stream that framed the front of palace, passing under a beautiful stone bridge and walkway that lead to the palace entrance, continuing to flow into the far away tree line on either side.

Before Kagome could take in anymore of her surroundings her breath caught in her throat and she waited in nervous anticipation as the palace doors opened. '_Oh God' _She thought as she held her breath. '_You can do this Kagome.' _She assured herself. Steeling herself raising herself to her full height and holding her head up proudly like her heritage demanded of her. She waited.

**Please. Pretty Please. Read and Review.**

**How else am I supposed to improve if you guys don't let me know :D**

**Chapter 2 Coming Soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

Here's another one :D Didn't expect to get this one typed out as fast as I did but once I started I couldn't stop. My muse was just begging to express itself. :)

One more thing I promise that the plot to the story will gradually become more and more apparent. The first couple of chapters are just meant to introduce you readers to Sesshomauru and Kagome and give you a taste of what their feelings are toward each other and this marriage will start heating up very soon I promise. ;)

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.**

Sesshomaru's emotionless eyes stared at the servant that came to announce to him and his father that the carriage that contained his future mate had been spotted 3 miles away from the palace. He turned to face his father with only the faintest trace of annoyance upon his face. The woman had not even arrived and yet she was already becoming an annoyance and intrusion upon his life. He was in the middle of a discussion with his father, Lord InuTaisho, about plans for after her impending arrival, when the servant had arrived with this news.

"It is not too late to reconsider this arraignment between the Eastern and Western families" He remarked.

"We have spoken about this matter many times already Sesshomaru and I am not in the mood to discuss them with you again at this moment." His Father said with a look of exasperation at his son and future heir. "Besides it is far too late to go back on our word now. I actually think that this girl will be good for you." Lord InuTaisho said with a smirk.

"Hn" was Sesshomaru's unconvinced reply. "There are far more worthy _full-blooded_ demons that would be more suitable for this Sesshomaru."

'_An even more ideal future for this Sesshomaru would be to rule without a mate, only taking one when the need for an heir is necessary'_ thought Sesshomaru bitterly. Not only was it bad enough that he would have to burden himself down by taking a mate. But that mate would be a lowly human, a miko, but still human none- the-less. She may hail from the most powerful Priestess's and Priest's bloodlines in the Lands but that did not necessarily mean that she was worth his time and title.

Another thing Sesshomaru found irritating was that his father, being the only one having met the eastern family, spoke often of the fact that this woman was very outspoken. '_This Sesshomaru will not tolerate disobedience. She will learn very quickly that my word is the law and the way that I expect my future mate to carry herself is absolute' _he thought determinedly.

While these thoughts were running through Sesshomaru's mind Lord InuTaisho was studying his son very closely. He knew that the last thing that Sesshomaru wanted to do was marry this woman, and that the only reason he had decided to go through with it was to maintain his honor and fulfill his duties as the future Lord of the Western Lands. He also knew that another reason Sesshomaru did not agree with this marriage was the fact that the girl was a human. A fact that his son never failed remark upon every time they discussed the arraigned marriage.

It was not as if InuTaisho tried to find the most disagreeable mate for Sesshomaru. He did not like irritating and making his son unhappy, if the latter was even possible, for the fun of it. There was something about the 18 year old miko of the eastern lands that made him choose her instead of all the other female demons that vied for his son's attention. Her attitude and boldness, as well as her intellect, intrigued him from the first moment he laid eyes on her. Her beauty was just a bonus.

He hoped that she would be the one to challenge and conquer his son's frozen heart. He and his mate had tried and failed for years to break through the icy façade that Sesshomaru had placed around himself and poor InuTaisho had run out of options. '_Plus, even though Sesshomaru would die before he admits it, this girl may be the only one that can match or come close to the power that Sesshomaru wields'_ InuTaisho thought with a devilish smirk. Sesshomaru had long surpassed his own power, which was to be expected of an heir. In truth, Lord InuTaisho was considering passing the title on to him very soon, yet another reason for this marriage.

"Are you going to just sit there smiling like a delirious old man or shall we continue our discussion of the plans for when this woman arrives?" Sesshomaru remarked irritably at his father.

"Hn." his father replied. '_You were in as deep of thought as I was'_ his father thought slightly incredulous of his son's remark, although he kept it hidden. It would only serve to irritate his son further. His son could not stand his sometimes "childish", as he Sesshomaru called them, actions. Just because Sesshomaru kept his feelings carefully hidden behind an icy mask did not mean that he must do the same.

"As you know the wedding will take place a week from now." His father continued. "She will reside in the guest quarters on the north wing of the palace up until the wedding. Afterwards she will be moved into your room, which you two will share _together. _"His father emphasized with a look that said that this was a matter not to be negotiated.

While Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed just a fraction of an inch he knew, even though he knew his father was up to something, better than to argue. He may have more power than his father, but what his father lacked in power when it came to his own, he conquered in experience. Besides, his father was still the great and powerful Taiyukai of the West and more than deserved the respect that he was given. '_I know that he is forcing me to share a room with this miko because he wants to ensure that I do not just place her on the other side of the palace and simply overlook her' _Sesshomaru thought. '_As if I would stoop to such a low as to avoid a mere human woman'_ he inwardly declared. His inner demon was growling at the mere thought of his father even thinking of him being capable of such self-degradation.

A subtle sound at the door made both the demons look at it expectantly waiting for the servant to make his announcement. "My Lords?" the demon began "The Lady has arrived."

"Has Lady Izayoi been informed?" asked Lord InuTaisho, standing up from behind the desk he sat behind.

"Yes Lord InuTaisho." the servant replied. "She is awaiting your arrival at the front entrance."

"Very well" InuTaisho said dismissing him. "Shall we go and meet her, it's not nice to keep ladies waiting" he asked Sesshomaru. His voice laced with humor and a smile gracing his features, making ladies plural to further irritate Sesshomaru.

"Hn." Was his only reply as he turned and strode out the room with all the grace an heir of the western lands could muster. His Father following close behind him Sesshomaru could not help the small feeling of what he could only guess to be anxiousness. That was as close as he would come to claiming it to be nervousness or anticipation. '_This Sesshomaru does not feel nervousness.'_ He thought making sure his mask of indifference was fully and securely in place.

However, as they reached Izayoi at the door (he refused to call her Lady except when his father was around), he could not help it as the feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. '_I wonder what type of human woman could make my father chose her as this Sesshomaru's future mate'_ he thought temporarily letting his curiosity take forefront of his mind. He found himself growing slightly impatient to see this eastern miko, as he muttered a greeting in acknowledgement of Izayoi's timid smile towards him.

He let his Father and his mate lead the rest of the way to the door like court decorum dictated and followed silently behind. As the servants opened the door for the western family to pass through Sesshomaru thought to himself, '_We shall see just what type of woman this girl is and we shall see who has the strongest will between the two of us.' _Even though he had feigned acceptance in front of his father, for he knew if he were to alert him of his intentions it would only make it even harder to accomplish what he sought, he had no plans to marry this human girl._ If the miko slips up in the slightest way or gives this Sesshomaru any excuse, I shall send her back to the pitiful human family that she hails from.'_ He thought with a smirk that neither Izayoi nor his father witnessed.

**Read and review please. Plot suggestions are more than welcome. The more reviews I get the more encouragement and confidence I will have to write,which means more chappies for you guys! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: This is the longest chapter I have written so far and I'm actually quite proud of myself :D A lot of hard work went into this as I tried to capture the character's personality's so I hope you guys enjoy! :) If there are any mistakes that escaped my notice I apologize ahead time :( I was trying to get this chapter to you guys as fast as I could in between all my classes.

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. If I did Kagome would have left Inyuasha and started traveling with Sesshomaru a LONG time ago ;)**

Kagome couldn't help the silent inward gasp she took when she laid eyes on the powerful Lord InuTaisho. It had been three years since the last time that he had come to visit her family, and she had laid eyes on him for the first time. Even though she only saw him for a short time when he arrived and as he was leaving, as it was a brief visit made only to finalize the wedding plans, her reaction was much the same as it was now. Except back then she didn't have the skill she had now of being able to hide her inner feelings in appropriate situations. She recalled, her face slightly flushing as she thought of how she had openly gaped like a fish out of water when she had first laid eyes on the demon Lord.

As she made her way toward the royal family standing at the other side of the bridge she could not help but to study them. The Lord InuTaisho was wearing solid white _hakama_ with hints of royal blue gracing the bottom of them where they covered the top part of his fitted boots. Covering his _hakama_ and upper body was a _hankimono_ (literally meaning "half-kimono"), with the same hints of royal blue that touched the bottom of his _hakama_, around the collar. The sleeves, which flowed to just above his wrists, were tipped in his family's traditional crimson red color as was the _obi_ that wrapped around his waist with his family crest adorning each end. The crimson red color meant strength and patience in battle yet victorious, while the blue represents truth and loyalty.

Kagome could not help but think that he looked like a god standing there with his silver mane flowing from the ponytail placed high upon his head and long fur _mokomoko _framing his ponytail on both sides. '_I wonder if that fur actually apart of him.'_ She mused allowing her amusement at the thought show in her eyes for a brief moment. '_What if it's his tail!' _she inwardly squealed as she briefly thought of it waving about wildly whenever he got excited. '_Calm down Kagome' _She reprimanded herself. '_Remember where you are.'_ She thought, checking to make sure expressionless mask she wore was still firmly in place.

Having to tear her eyes away from fear of looking like a total staring buffoon in front of the royal family, she turned her attention to the woman standing to the right of Lord InuTaisho. '_Wow she's beautiful!' _thought Kagome. '_When I heard the rumors of the Great Dog Demon taking a human mate I thought for sure that they must be lies. What with Lord Sesshomaru's attitude for human kind, he had to get from somewhere.' _She silently wondered.

The woman standing next to the Great InuTaisho had to be one of the most beautiful women Kagome had ever seen. She had long straight black hair flowing freely down her back almost till it touched the floor. She was also wearing one of the most expensive looking kimonos Kagome had ever laid eyes upon. Its colors consisted of the traditional family crimson as well. However tiny white and gold flowered vines trailed from the bottom, up to the black and gold banded obi she wore around her waist. As the flowered vines wrapped upward the design got thinner and thinner making the flowers appear to be fading away. She, like InuTaisho, had fur adorning her as well. Except it clear that hers was a fur pelt and it was wrapped around her slender shoulders.

As Kagome's eyes wandered further and further up, she jumped slightly in fright as her eyes met the eyes of the woman that she had been inconspicuously studying just seconds before. Her cheeks flushed pink just a little, as she felt like a kid caught in the act of sneaking some of their favorite candy after bedtime. The woman's eyes however, put to rest any unease she might have felt after being caught, as they were filled with nothing but kindness and understanding. Kagome allowed her mask to break for a brief moment she offered a kind hearted smile in return to the woman. Kagome had a feeling that if the wedding was to actually take place this woman would be one, if not the only, comfort and friend she would find here.

As Kagome got closer and closer to the family standing across the bridge she felt herself grow more and more nervous and tense. The previous relaxed state she had obtained, from the Lady of the West's gaze, fleeing from her rapidly as she thought of who she would see next. '_None other but the Heir of the West and cold-hearted demon Lord Sesshomaru_' she thought, her heart pounding in her chest. Part of her did not wish to look upon him at all, but she knew that was stupid. '_He's not going to just disappear if you just ignore him'_ she said to herself trying to find the boost of confidence she needed '_How do you plan on irritating and making him mad enough to send you home if you can't even look at him!'_ She scolded, growing frustrated with herself as she thought about how silly she was acting. Harding her eyes and silently reminding herself to look at his face to see if he was looking back before she started to take note of the rest of him, she quickly turned her eyes before she lost what little confidence she had gained. '_Maybe people were just exaggerating when they said he was demon with all the wintery cold of a blizzard and none of the passion that came with one.'_ She thought, mentally telling herself that she should give the demon heir a fair chance like she believed everyone should have before being judged.

However, when she turned to look at the demon that was to be her future husband, she could not help it as her previous thoughts instantly flew back from whence they came and a scowl overtook her face. '_He doesn't even plan on acknowledging my presence' _She was practically boiling with inner rage as she took in the demon that dared to turn his face from hers looking off to some far away thing that he obviously deemed more important than her presence and arrival_. _You would think that she would be happy to find out that he wasn't looking at her because that would mean that she could openly observe him without fear of being caught or seen, but instead all she felt was outrage. Even though she would never admit it, part of her _wanted _him to want to marry her. Or at least show some kind of interest, even though it wouldn't change her plans to escape from the unwanted marriage, call it the woman in her.

Though all of Kagome's inner thoughts her outward appearance never changed, except for the brief scowl that passed over her face and the spark that appeared in her eyes, that only someone who was close to her would recognize as the outrage she felt. '_He's nothing but an arrogant jerk' _she declared squaring her shoulders and adding and an inch to her small height. '_Fine, since he wishes to offer it I will take this opportunity to study him and afterwards I will afford him no more attention than what he offers me!' _she thought adding mental "humph" to her words.

The Heir of the West was wearing a solid white _hakama_ like his father however, instead of the royal blue on the bottom around his ankles, his was had three black bands. His sleeves were solid crimson and darkened into black as they reached his chest area. The _obi _that was around his was black and tipped with crimson and he also had a _mokomoko_ that wrapped around his right shoulder and continued to flow behind him. Although simple in appearance, Kagome could tell that it was made from only the best of fabrics, as were the rest of the royal family's clothes.

As Kagome's gaze traveled to his face she could not help but to admit that Lord Sesshomaru was very attractive. Hell, he was more than attractive, she found herself admitting. Her earlier feelings of outrage fading away to be replaced by skepticism and insecurity. '_He's perfect.' _She thought as her face fell_ 'There is no way that he will ever look upon me and see me as anything close to being beautiful.'_

Before Kagome could dwell on the small feeling of disappointment that she felt along with the hope that it wouldn't be too hard to get him to send her home, since her beauty wouldn't hold him back ,she arrived all too soon in front of the royal family. Bowing her head with all the grace she had accumulated in all her training as Heir to the East, she greeted the royal family. It was only then that Sesshomaru turned his outward attention to the woman standing in front of him.

********* Sesshomaru's POV *********

Sesshomaru's breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of the woman that was currently getting out of the carriage. He felt his eyes widening slightly before he quickly made his face resemble the usual emotionless mask he wore. He knew that even though his father was pretending to not observe him, the sneaky old dog was watching him like a hawk to gauge his reaction to the girl who was to be his future mate. '_I will not give him the satisfaction of knowing that I find anything appeasing or agreeable about this miko.'_ Sesshomaru mentally declared, angry at himself for even letting the slightest emotion show on his features.

In truth though, the miko was more than appeasing to him. She had a natural beauty that no demoness possessed that had graced his presence or bed before. For a brief moment he thought to himself that, if the marriage was to actually take place, he would not mind waking up to such a beauty lying next to him every morning. He quickly banished such thoughts from his mind thinking '_There is no need for such useless weak thoughts, as she surely will not be able to hold up to this Sesshomaru's behavioral demands.'_

Sesshomaru took a moment to study the woman that was now walking toward them and the first thing that he noticed was her startling crystal blue eyes. Eyes that looked like when they gazed upon you they would see through straight unto your soul. Eyes that were now studying his father Sesshomaru thought, feeling a hint of some emotion that he not identify run through him. It was very uncommon, if not unheard of, for Japanese women to have blue eyes. He watched as appreciation shone those very eyes for a brief moment as she obviously found something she must have liked in his father, and then it hit him that that faint feeling that he was getting might possibly be jealously. Although he would never admit it out loud even if his life depended on it.

Slightly incredulous he recognized that he wanted that appreciation in her eyes to shine for him, he wanted to be the first one that she looked for and saw. '_What foolishness' _he thought. '_It is only right that I should want her to look at me first seeing how she is supposed to be this one's future mate, her eyes should be for me and me only.' _He said. Convincing himself that the only reason he was feeling what he felt was because he was used to women throwing themselves at him and he was merely curious as to why this one seemed to be paying him no mind. Tossing his unpleasing thoughts aside Sesshomaru continued to observe the woman.

He noted that she had long thick black hair that was pulled up slightly, and secured with beautiful purple lotus flower hair pin, and then allowed to cascade down her back till it reached just a little further than her waist. She had petite shoulders and a slim waist that her _kimono _and_ obi _accented and showed off perfectly. Her _kimono_ also showed off her traditional house colors of purple and gold. The gold representing generosity and elevation of the mind and the purple representing royalty, sovereignty, and justice. It was solid purple on the outside. However, on the inside of sleeves, the collar framing her long slender neck, and the _obi_ around her waist was covered in sky blue and gold flower petals. If Sesshomaru were to see the back of her _kimono_ he would be able to see that she also wore her family's swan crest, which symbolized perfect harmony, love, grace, and sincerity.

Sesshomaru did not like the way that he found this woman beautiful saying to himself '_It matters not she will not have to remain here for long.' _Ready to put aside his silent musings and to show his father that he thought nothing of the eastern miko, Sesshomaru turned his attention to the far away tree line before the woman could finish observing his father's mate. He knew that the woman would find it disrespectful, and it would probably irritate her, as she would think that he was not paying any attention to her at all. When in fact he was doing quite the opposite, he was finding it quite hard to ignore the small woman who making her way closer and closer to the royal family. He heard his father clear his throat in disapproval at Sesshomaru's actions, and in warning to tell him to cease, but he choose to pretend to not hear him until the exact moment that the princess arrived in front of them, bowing her head gracefully down in greeting.

'_He thinks that I do not recognize what he is doing'_ thought Lord Taisho, his face remaining the same so as not to alert the Eastern Miko of what was going on. '_He wishes to make the girl feel unease by pretending that he takes no notice of her.'_ Little did Sesshomaru know that his father wasn't as unobservant as he thought, he had noticed the little emotions that briefly passed Sesshomaru's face and he knew that in fact his son found the girl to be quite beautiful and pleasing. Lord InuTaisho could not help the devilish smirk that broke out over his face but he quickly disguised it as a greeting smile in reply to the Eastern princess.

"Lady Kagome, it is a pleasure to see you once again." He said smiling warmly at the girl.

*******Kagome POV*******

"Same to you Lord InuTaisho" she replied her smile growing as he put her more at ease with his kindness. "I believe it has been three years since the last we saw each other?"

"Indeed it has. I am sure that we have much to catch up on, but we will have to do so after the servants get you settled in, as I am sure you are quite tired from your long journey." He said. "But first let me introduce you to my mate Izayoi" he stated motioning to the woman holding onto his arm.

Lady Izayoi inclined her head in greeting and smiled, her warmth reaching all the way to her eyes and Kagome following her actions.

"And this is my son and Heir to the West Sesshomaru."

Kagome's eyes meet the most startling gold eyes she had ever seen. '_They're even brighter than his fathers'_ she thought, before merely inclining her head in greeting the same she had done with Lady Izayoi but with none of the warmth. She watched as he did the same, with the same expressionless look on his face, before she quickly dismissed him with her eyes in favor for his father again. '_There. That will teach him that two can play his silly little game._' She thought with an inward smirk at her little victory as she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, his eyes hardening. She was known in the east for her stubbornness and intelligence after all.

As they all turned to enter the castle Lord InuTaisho, who had watched the interaction between the little miko and his son, allowed himself a small smile to himself thinking '_One thing is for sure' _he chuckled, seeing Izayoi's questioning gaze upon him as he did so._ 'This castle will never be boring as long as this little eastern priestess resides here.'_

**AN: I think our little Kagome is going to give mean old Sesshy a run for his money.**

**I hope you guys were able to understand the way that I described their clothes. I'm not really good at making up kimono designs that I would find easy to describe to you guys. My imagination tends to run wild with things like that so I had to try to simplify it a little :)**

**Please Read and Review, if there's something i'm doing wrong or that needs improvement please let me know :D **

** Chapter 4 Coming Soon! **


	4. Chapter 4

AN: My brain has temporarily checked out X) I'm taking that as a sign that I might need to take a break from writing for awhile but knowing me, my muse wont let me rest until I crank out a few more chapters so do not fret lol

sn:

missartemis88 : Thank you so much for your feedback! When I was making the decision to write it that way I was wondering if it was necessary or not, and decided to add it in just to be safe. But since I have some reader input now I decided to take your advice as you can see in this chapter :D Thank you once again!

A special thank you to my other readers that reviewed as well! You guys are my motivation to keep on writing :)

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters nor do I make any money from the writing of this story. I do however own any and all OC characters that may appear in this story.**

As the eastern princess walked next to him and behind his father and Izayoi, as was required, into the front area of the castle Sesshomaru could not help but to ponder her last few actions. Instead of the irritation or distress that he thought he would find in her gaze as they met all he found was blank uncaringness. '_She dared to dismiss me with a single glance.'_ He thought thoroughly frustrated. 'Even_ now as she walks next to me she hasn't even spared me a second glance.'_ He said watching her cautiously out of the corner of his eye. This little miko truly was a strange person to Sesshomaru who was used to women flaunting and throwing themselves at him with little to no work done on his part what so ever. Even though he found her actions to be highly annoying, he was actually kind of glad that she did not act the same as most women. However, he was a long way from being happy that she was so casually ignoring him as if he was not walking right next to her.

Sesshomaru allowed a frown to grace his features as he silently allowed his father to lead them to the inner palace servants that would settle Lady Kagome into her temporary quarters. Coming to a stop along with the miko, he watched as his father turned around with Izayoi to face them and address Kagome.

"These servants will take you to your room on the northern wing of the palace and help your escorts to unpack and get settled in." He stated gesturing to the servants bowing on the ground behind him. "You will have a couple hours to rest, if you wish to do so, as it is still fairly early in the day. Afterwards, a servant that will become your personal maidservant for as long as you reside here will come to collect you for dinner, where we will discuss the plans for the wedding ceremony" he finished smiling brightly at the girl.

"Thank you for your hospitality Lord InuTaisho" Kagome responded looking at the Great Demon Lord and bowing her head in appreciation.

"Nonsense, you are soon to be family after all and this is now your home" he said.

The warmth that Lord InuTaisho was showing her almost made her feel bad knowing that she was planning on doing everything possible to get out of this marriage and leave. However, after meeting her soon to be husband, she knew all the more that she could never be happy living with someone as cold and arrogant as Lord Sesshomaru. He was the exact opposite of her. Where she was kind and selfless, Sesshomaru seemed unfeeling and selfish, only concerned with how he could achieve his goals. He lived by strict rules, whereas she believed in living each day to the fullest and following your heart. Also, it was very clear to her that she would never find respect with Sesshomaru and if she could not receive respect than she was not going to give it, which would only result in lots of arguments and nothing but unhappiness between the two.

"My Lady" a woman said. Approaching her from the line of servants and bowing in front of her, breaking Kagome out of her thoughts. "My name is Sora. I will be escorting you to your room and help you to prepare for your nap if you so wish."

Nodding and smiling brightly at the young girl Kagome waited for her to stand and lead the way. Looking at the royal family and bowing her head to excuse herself, she headed off in the direction Sora was now walking. The girl lead her through a pair of double doors that lead from, what she guessed to be a greeting area for guests, before entering the one of the three main parts of the castle. The doors lead to a long corridor with doors on both sides. As she walked along, following behind the girl, Kagome was able to see into some of the rooms and she noticed that many of them were bedrooms. '_This side of the castle must be where they allow guests to stay during festivals and gatherings.'_ She mused. '_I wonder what the other two double doors back in the greeting area lead to then'_ she wondered. Making a mental note to ask Sora when they reached their destination.

As they walked along Kagome took in all the beautiful art and vases that lined the walls of the hall until Sora took a sudden right turn, and lead her to a pair of shoji doors that opened up to a large garden with a koi pond in the middle with wooden bridge running across it.

"Oh wow" Kagome exclaimed out loud. "It's beautiful."

Smiling at Lady Kagome's obvious joy at seeing the garden, Sora turned back and said "If you find this pleasing my Lady, you should see the royal family's personal garden on the western side of the castle."

"You mean that this isn't the only garden in the castle?" Kagome asked, surprise in her voice.

"Oh no my Lady, this is the garden for the guests that wish to relax and take a break from business during their stay here. It has much less variety than that of the royal family's" Sora replied, continuing to walk to the set of shoji doors right across from the ones they had just entered from.

'_Wow'_ Kagome thought, eyes wide. '_This castle must be huge.'_ They had left the front area a while ago and Sora kept on leading her further and further into the castle with no signs of them getting any closer to their destination.

"Sora" Kagome called ahead to her. "Just how much farther must we go until we reach my quarters?" she asked, growing apprehensive as she thought about trying to find her way around the castle by herself in the week ahead.

Sora smiled reading the young woman's thoughts. "It is not much further my Lady. Do not worry, the week while you are staying in the eastern wing your personal maidservant will be there to escort you around where ever you may wish to go."

Kagome let out her breath in relief. She could just imagine how embarrassing it would be to be caught wondering around the castle like a lost puppy for hours on end until she found someone who could lead her to and from her room.

"After the wedding ceremony you will be moved to the southern wing of castle where the royal family resides" Sora continued. "After that, I doubt that you will have a reason to visit western wing of the castle, where some of the most esteemed and high ranked royal guards and visitors reside."

'_Why would they place me on this side of the castle closest to the royal guard rather than the side of the castle where the royal family is?' _Kagome silently wondered. '_Are they expecting an attack from someone before the wedding?_' Why else would they surround her with so much protection?

"I wasn't aware that the Western Lands were in the middle of a war" Kagome said under her breath.

"What's that my Lady?" asked Sora turning her head to look at her.

"Oh, nothing" Kagome answered quickly, deciding to ask Lord InuTaisho about it at dinner that night. She refused to talk to Lord Sesshomaru unless it was absolutely necessary, hoping that he would learn that she was not one to be overlooked and ignored. She allowed a small smile to overtake her face as thought of just how much fun she was having by irritating the western Heir. '_I bet he's not used to such treatment from a lady'_ she laughed to herself.

"Here we are my Lady" Sora said, stopping in front of a shoji door with sakura blossoms painted on them and sliding it open. Stepping aside to allow Kagome to enter first and closing it after them.

As Kagome stood just in front the door, she couldn't help the small gasp that passed her lips. Sure she was used to an elegant lifestyle but it was clear that the western servants had gone all out in their preparation for her arrival.

In the middle of the room, to the left on a platform, was a large futon bed that could fit at least three people in it. It was covered by purple and gold sheets, her family's color, and made from finest silk. On the far right corner of the room was a desk with any writing supplies she might need while staying here. Next to the desk was a bookshelf with various scrolls held on it and to the right of that, was a door that led to her own personal bath house.

Straight across from the door of which they had just entered, was yet another set of doors that lead to a balcony and on the balcony, to the left, was a small bonsai garden. It was clear that they wanted to ensure that she would have plenty of things to do to stave off boredom while staying in this room, Kagome thought.

"Do you think I could have a bath before I lie down for my nap" Kagome asked Sora, who had been standing behind her silently while she took in her room. Kagome was already very anxious to use the bath house for the first time, practically writhing in anticipation, as she pictured how it would feel to relax in the hot water after such a long journey.

"Of course my Lady" Sora smiled "While you are having your bath some of the castle servants, along with some of your own, will bring some of your personal items and clothes to the room. The rest of your belongings will be taken to Lord Sesshomaru's room" she finished, walking to the bathroom to prepare the bath for her.

Kagome felt a chill go down her back at the thought of sleeping in the same room with Lord Sesshomaru. Even though she knew that if the marriage was to actually happen that she would eventually have to lie with him and that would mean sleeping in the same bed. '_Among other things' _she grimaced. She couldn't imagine him touching, or better yet, her _allowing_ him to touch her in any kind of way. These thoughts only made Kagome's wish to escape back home and rule by herself all the more powerful. Before Kagome could further distress herself with her thoughts, Sora came to tell her that her bath was ready just as the first servant arrived with some of her belongings.

As Kagome settled herself into her bath she began to think of more ways that she could show the western family that she was not the right mate for their son. She would have to be careful because, whatever she did, she would not want to bring shame to her family by any of her actions. The last thing she needed was rumors spreading that the eastern heir was an immature princess whose parents did not teach how to properly carry herself, and couldn't possibly lead her own country. '_Whatever I do it will have to happen before my parents arrive' _Kagome thought chewing on her bottom lip. That gave her five days to accomplish her goal before it would be too late. She knew, from the many discussions they had had already, that once her parents arrived there would be nothing she could do to change either family's mind.

Back in the front greeting area of the castle, Sesshomaru watched as the eastern priestess followed Sora from the room.

"Something bothering you Sesshomaru" Lord Taisho asked his son. His smiling growing in amusement as he took in the way Sesshomaru's frown deepened at his words.

"Nothing bothers this Sesshomaru" he said, impatiently beginning to walk forward past his father to the double doors that lead to main part of the castle.

"I do not remember saying our discussion was finished" his father said. A small underlying warning in his voice at the disrespect Sesshomaru showed to him and Izayoi by trying to walk past them without being dismissed or excusing himself. "Izayoi my love would you excuse me and my son? We have much to discuss." He asked smiling down at her with all his love showing in his eyes.

"Yes my Lord" she replied. Her eyes and smile reflecting her love for him right back. "Lord Sesshomaru" she said excusing herself, and walked through the doors behind her.

Sesshomaru and Lord InuTaisho stood there watching each other for a few moments after Lady Izayoi left until finally his father broke the silence by asking, "What do you think of the eastern princess?"

"This Sesshomaru's thoughts do not matter in this situation, as you have already made more than apparent by our past discussions" He replied. Already aggravated by the miko's earlier actions towards him, he was in no mood to be interrogated by his father. He could already feel a headache settling itself right behind his eyes.

He knew that he should watch his words to his father because he had already showed disrespect when he ignored his warning outside when they greeted the eastern princess. Even though his father might know that he did not mean to challenge him by his actions, the fact of the matter was that they were dog demons, and his father was the alpha male. It was in his father's blood to command his respect and submission.

"Watch your tone Sesshomaru" he father growled. "I would appreciate it if you would answer my question. Despite what you think I actually do care about your opinion in this matter."

"Will it change the outcome?" Sesshomaru asked lowering his voice even more and calming himself knowing that he had pushed as far as he dared.

"It will not" his father replied quickly. "There are reasons behind this union of the Eastern and Western Lands and soon all will be revealed to both you and her. But as of right now it is not my place to tell either of you." His father finished. Turning to follow Izayoi into the main part of the castle and deciding not to push Sesshomaru for a response at the moment, Lord InuTaisho, left Sesshomaru standing there to ponder over his words.

'_What does he mean by reasons' _Sesshomaru wondered, as he watched his father's figure disappear behind the double doors.

**AN: And so the plot thickens MUAAAHHHAHAHA! Ignore me I am extremely tired while I am writing this X) and have decided to wait until morning so I can proof read one more time before giving it to you guys. There are a lot of little hints in here for you guys to decipher with regards to the marriage. I only hope that I made them clear enough for you guys to see :)**

**Chapter 5 Coming Soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

An: I worked super hard on this chapter and have once again broken my longest story record so I hope you guys enjoy! Also I have some good news and some bad news...

BAD NEWS: I have alot of midterm exams going on this week, which means alot of studying for little ole me :( , so I may not be able to update as frequently as I have been. :'(

GOOD NEWS: The week after my midterms is winter break! Which means i'll have plenty of time to write some more chapters for you guys and will be cranking them out like crazy hopefully :D

So now that we've gotten that out of the way, remember to read and review! I love all the ones that I have recieved so far and look for them to tell me how well each of my chapters are recieved so I know whether or not I need improvement :)

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. I DO own the plot and any OC characters that may appear in this story though :)**

Kagome was awoken some hours later by a small knock at her door and an unfamiliar voice calling out to her.

"Lady Kagome, are you awake?" a woman at the door asked.

"Yes, you may enter" she permitted, somewhat reluctantly rising from the futon. Her nap had felt almost too good and she wanted nothing more to lie there for a few hours more. However, the impending dinner with the royal family dismissed all thoughts of that from her mind.

As her door slid open to revel the young woman, who was to be her new maidservant, Kagome quickly noted that the woman looked to be around the same age as her. She had beautiful warm brown eyes, and she was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt that tied up around her neck. She was also wearing a pair of crimson _hakamas_ that were fitted around her ankles so as not to get in the way while she tended to her daily duties.

"Hello Lady Kagome. My name is Sango and I will be the one to help you with anything you may need while you're here" she said introducing herself. "Right now, it is my job to help you get ready for dinner. The Lords do not like to be kept waiting" she said humor showing in her eyes.

"Yes, thank you." Kagome replied, glad to finally meet someone who was around her same age here at the castle. No matter how short her stay was going to be here.

As Sango helped to dress her, Kagome found out that Sango had been saved by Lord Sesshomaru while he was wandering around the western lands, as he was known to do. The demon slayer village that Sango was from had been wiped out by some unknown demon around 3 years ago when she had just turned 15. Sango had been out on of her first demon hunting mission when the massacre had occurred, and the only clues she was able to find in her village were the hundreds of lesser demon bodies and the seared and scarred bodies of the villagers.

She knew that lesser demons did not travel in as big of group as those that had attacked her family, so she was convinced that a very powerful demon had obviously been behind the attack. She decided to look for any potential survivors, and after finding none she looked for her family's bodies so she could bury them. She was able to find and bury all her family members, except her brother. No matter how much and how hard Sango searched the area surrounding the village and the village itself, she could find no signs of him. So brokenhearted, but still hopeful, she decided to start traveling alone to find her brother and the demon that had so mercilessly wiped out her village, determined to avenge her family.

It was one year after she had started her journey that she came across a very powerful boar demon, and while she had fought very valiantly she had been unable to defeat him. Just as she was sure that she had spent her last day on this earth, an even stronger demon with long white hair had appeared between her and the boar demon, slicing the charging demon in half as if he were nothing but paper. As the new demon turned to face her Sango felt no relief or gratitude, as she would have never had believed that a demon would kill another demon just to save a demon slayer such as her.

"Why would you save me form that demon just to kill me yourself" she asked the demon, as he began to slowly walk towards her.

"Who said that this Sesshomaru was planning to kill you" he asked, his gold eyes assessing her wounds.

Mistaking his actions Sango replied "If you wish to take advantage me because of my situation you should know that I will bite off my own tongue and kill myself before I allow to touch me in that kind of way" she spat out, gritting her teeth as she attempted to rise from the ground she had fallen on.

Admiration in his eyes at the fiery spirit this human woman showed even though she was well aware that he could easily over power her if he wished to, he told her "This Sesshomaru would never stoop so low as to take advantage of any woman, no matter the condition she is in" he said glaring at her to enforce his point. Seeing the truth in his eyes Sango allowed herself to relax on the ground.

"If not to kill me yourself, why then would you go out of your way to save a human like me" Sango asked him.

Not answering her question Sesshomaru settled down at the trunk of a tree to the far right of the slayer and asked "How bad are you injured?"

Watching the slayer as she finally took time to assess her own wounds, Sesshomaru thought to himself '_Why __**did**__ I save her? And more importantly why am I finding myself unable to leave her until I know that she can properly defend herself again.' _Unable to find a satisfying answer to his own question he pushed his thoughts aside as he waited for her to answer.

"I will definitely have a few bruises and I think my leg is sprained, but if I have something to lean upon I am sure that I will be able to walk." She finally answered.

Eyes narrowing, Sesshomaru took a minute to think. Finally after a few minutes of observing each other he surprised her by saying "You will accompany this Sesshomaru back to his home. Seeing as how you will be unable to fight properly with only one hand free if you use a cane, it is the only sensible option for this Sesshomaru to take" His tone implying that he would not take no for an answer.

"It would not be wise for me to leave, only for you to go and get yourself killed because of your inability to defend yourself." He said, partly to keep her from asking anymore questions and partly to justify his own out of character actions to himself.

After Sango had arrived with Sesshomaru at his home, and she got over the shock of finding out that her savior was none other than the great demon Lord InuTaisho son and Heir to the Western Lands, she decided to stay on at the castle as a servant of Lord Sesshomaru until her debt that she owed to him for saving her life was paid off. Even though he had told her many times that she owed him nothing and it was not required, she had insisted upon giving her service as a matter of her personal honor.

"Of course I still plan on continuing my quest to find my brother and the demon that slayed my entire village" she emphasized to Kagome "It will just have to happen after my debt to Lord Sesshomaru is fulfilled."

"Thank you so much for trusting me enough to share your past with me Sango" Kagome said smiling at the girl and hugging her.

"I do not know why but, even though the only one I have spoken to of my past is Lord Sesshomaru, I feel like I can really trust you" Sango confided. "I feel as if I have known you forever even though it is not my place to say"

"Nonsense" Kagome said smiling. Feeling the same way and happy to have made a friend that she could confide in so quickly.

"While in this room there is no need to be so formal as well, when we are alone I give you permission to just call me Kagome. No, in fact I _order_ you to call me Kagome" She told Sango, smiling as the woman began to shake her head back and forth quickly, eyes widening.

"But I couldn't" Sango began.

"Yes you can and you must" She said with finality.

"Yes my Lady" Sango said bowing her head gratefully and upon seeing Kagome's look quickly corrected herself saying "Very well…Kagome."

As Kagome's smile brightened, Sango could not help the smile that broke out on her own face. After such a long time, Sango finally felt a bit of true happiness, as she felt she had not only gained a great friend but a sister as well.

"We should get you to dinner. I feel we have tarried long enough in this room" Sango laughed, tears in both women's eyes at the joy of their feelings.

"Yes, I do think your right." Kagome said nodding.

Kagome stopped in front of the tall wooden doors that lead to the dining hall to take a deep breath and calm herself. Upon their arrival Sango had left her with only a comforting assuring smile, seeing Kagome's nervousness. Kagome felt like there was a large boulder in the pit of her stomach, after she had left her room, as she thought of the fact that this would be the first time that the royal family would have a full uninterrupted chance to find out about the woman their son was to marry. She was sure that they would have many questions for her and she would be expected to ask many in return. She already knew of one question that she wished to ask, in regards to her room placement in the castle.

Opening the doors she quickly walked in and closed the doors behind her. Turning around she smiled at Lord InuTaisho and Lady Izayoi and nodded at Sesshomaru. She smiled to herself as she noticed that Lord Sesshomaru must have taken her hint and finally come to his senses, or at least had decided to not pretend she wasn't in the same room as him. However, her smile soon faded as she watched the server pull out the car facing directly across from him. She would be unable to avoid looking at him now she thought.

As Kagome made her way to her chair she began to look around the room. It was a big room filled with vases and flowers, and on the walls were portraits of the royal family. There were two portraits in particular that caught Kagome's eye. One was a picture of a beautiful woman with long silver and a crescent moon on her head, Kagome couldn't help but feel that the woman looked strangely familiar. She had never read of a woman ruler to the western lands so she assumed that she must have been Lord InuTaisho's first mate and Lord Sesshomaru's birth mother. Kagome did not know the reason behind the second mating of Lord InuTaisho, as the west kept most of their internal affairs to themselves, hardly ever requesting aid from the other lands. The other was a family portrait of Lord InuTaisho, Lady Izayoi, Sesshomaru and one other demon. This unknown demon was the cause behind Kagome's curiosity. She had heard that the western Lord had one more son other than Sesshomaru, but upon not seeing him when she first arrived at the western castle, that fact had completely escaped her mind.

"I noticed that one of your sons seem to be missing?" She said as she sat down. "I hope all is well."

"Oh yes, Inuyasha is helping some villagers get rid of a group of demons that are blocking their supply route to and from their village." InuTaisho said apologetically. "I apologize that he couldn't be here to welcome you but he should return in a few more days. It was an important matter that couldn't be put off any longer or handled by anyone else."

"Hn" Sesshomaru sarcastically added. '_I could have went but you said it would be inappropriate if I was not here to greet my future mate' _he thought bitterly '_the idiotic half-breed is sure to mess up even the smallest of tasks' _

Seeing Kagome's questioning gaze at Sesshomaru Lady Izayoi quickly jumped into conversation successfully diverting her attention.

"I trust your rest was very comfortable and your room is to your liking Lady Kagome?" she asked.

"Oh yes it was. I especially liked and enjoyed the bath house" she replied, a look of complete appreciation on her face.

"That's wonderful." Izayoi smiled. "I think we ladies should be able to properly treat ourselves to only the best after finishing our daily duties, and seeing as how we will have a lot of work to do this week, I convinced my Lord you should have room with its own bath."

"Well I am very grateful for your insight my Lady" she replied truthfully. "There was one thing that I was wondering in regards to my room placement Lord InuTaisho" she began and waited for his approval to continue with her question.

Nodding, he let her know that she had his full attention. However the fact that he didn't verbally reply gave Kagome a feeling that she wasn't going to get a real answer from him. She also noticed that even Sesshomaru seemed to be interested in father's answer, which told her that Sesshomaru did not know the reason behind her placement either. Lady Izayoi had quickly diverted her attention back to her food which told her, where she might not know everything, she knew something.

"I was wondering why my room would be placed on the same side as the high ranked royal guards" She continued "Are the western lands in time of war or do you suspect an attempt on my life before the wedding?"

"I thought you said the room was to your liking" Lord InuTaisho asked, eyebrows rising innocently.

Kagome almost sighed out loud as she recognized his attempt to deflect her question, she hated when people treated her as if she were no smarter than a child.

Keeping her smile plastered on her face, she smoothly replied "Yes my Lord it is, but I just assumed that those were the reasons behind it. Why else would I need to be surrounded by so much protection?" she asked, her face implying that she required an answer.

"It is nothing you should concern yourself with my child. It is simply an extra precaution I decided to take during the preceding week of the wedding." He quickly said waving his hands dismissively.

"All due respect Lord InuTaisho I think if it is something in regards to my personal safety, I should be made aware" Kagome said losing some of her patience. She _was_ known to have a very short fuse to go along with her stubborn streak. "I can't help but to feel that you are keeping something from me"

She saw Lord InuTaisho and Izayoi's eyes widen at her straight- forwardness and brash words, and wondered if she had finally pushed her luck too far and met the one person who would not stand for her attitude. '_Well at least if I end up surviving this, maybe he'll finally realize that I am completely wrong for his son' _she thought, quickly casting her eyes down at the table.

Actually if Kagome could hear InuTaisho's thoughts she would notice that he found her outburst and powers of observation very pleasing. '_Just the fact that she noticed that there was a deeper motive behind her temporary placement is very impressive. And the fact that she was brave enough to tell me that she suspected me of keeping things from her, tells me that she will be an even greater ruler and match for my strong willed son_ _than I first thought.'_ If Kagome had been brave enough to tear her gaze from the lines in table cloth, that she suddenly found absolutely fascinating, she would have seen the wide grin that broke out on InuTaisho's face. However, before InuTaisho could reply and let her know there was no reason to regret her words as she only expressing her true feelings, Sesshomaru's voice interrupted him.

"You should learn to be silent and accept when someone tries to do something in which you can only benefit from" He said staring at her coldly.

Kagome head instantly flew up to meet his eyes, at a loss for words as her mind registered his words. However, her silence did not last for long as her eyes slowly narrowed at him.

Refusing to let go of his gaze, she gritted out from between her teeth "Excuse me?"

"This Sesshomaru does not repeat himself" he replied staring back at her "We are now aware of your inability to keep your mouth shut, but this one was not aware that you had trouble with hearing as well."

"Oh believe me, _my Lord_, there are no problems with my hearing" she quickly said, venom lacing her words. "I simply thought that I must have misheard your word. Surely one that possesses as much wisdom and great powers of hearing such as yourself would notice that I never once said that I was not grateful." "Perhaps it is you not I who has difficulty with his hearing" she finished, smiling falsely.

Practically growling in fury at her words Sesshomaru pushed away from the table standing to look down on her, his chair loudly scraping against the floor. Kagome however, didn't flinch an inch at his actions, silently preparing her miko energy in order to defend herself if need be.

"That is enough you two" Lord InuTaisho said, rising slowly from his chair at the head of the table.

When Sesshomaru showed no signs of standing down his father said "Would you really harm a woman who was simply expressing concern over her personal safety" when his words met nothing but silence he continued "Then _**sit**_ **_down._**"

Tearing his gaze from hers Sesshomaru once again sat, still managing to hold onto his everlasting look of grace and pride, Kagome remarked unhappily. She still refused to look away from him even sometime after he had once again taken his seat. Finally unable to stand his presence any longer, looking at Lady Izayoi and Lord InuTaisho, she said "I must excuse myself" offering them an apologetic smile "I have suddenly found my appetite to be non-existent"

Nodding, InuTaisho allowed her to leave. When her figure finally disappeared behind the door he turned his disapproving gaze onto Sesshomaru, fury embedded deeply in his eyes. "You think I do not know what you are trying to do Sesshomaru. I know that you are purposely trying to run this girl off and I am telling you right now that I want this foolishness to **stop"**

"Know that there is nothing you can do to prevent this marriage from happening so you best just learn to accept it and attempt to get along with her. There is more involved in this marriage than just you two's feelings" he finished.

Standing and gathering Lady Izayoi from her chair they both left the room, Lady Izayoi offering Sesshomaru an apologetic smile to Sesshomaru over her shoulder.

'_There is more behind this wedding than just our feelings huh?' _Sesshomaru thought to himself, eyes narrowing as he thought once again on his father's words. '_Well then this Sesshomaru vows that tomorrow he will demand to find out the true reasons behind this troublesome marriage…. and he will receive an answer'_

**AN: Yes Inuyasha will be in this story will have a fairly big part in this story. Sango has made her first appearance and will also have a fairly big part in this story as well. How? Well you guys will just have to keep reading to find out ;P **

**I know I haven't said it yet, but I plan on this story being a long one. So if it seems like there isn't alot of action in a chapter it's probably because the purpose of the chapter is to give you information on some upcoming action in a future chapter. Just to let you know :D **


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sooo... I'M BACK! This week was a struggle and full of alot of hard work Xp. This chapter was just to get me out of the school writing mode back into my FanFic writing mode, so it was a struggle for me to write. This is also the reason for if you find my style of writing somewhat changed. I have now successful transitioned back and am excited to begin writing for you guys again. I have long since passed my 1,000 view mark and have almost reached 2,000 and feel like I need to reward you guys with lots of chapters for your kindness and intrest! :D

Thank you guys sooo much for your wonderful reviews on this story, I can't tell you how much it means to me! 3

and a special thanks to SnowBirdYoukai for your amazing and wonderful review I agree completely :)

SN:I have been having some trouble uploading my chapters so if anything looks strange please tell me so I can see if i need to try to repost the chapters or not :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.**

* * *

Finally giving up on the idea of getting any rest, Sesshomaru rose from his futon and walked out onto his balcony. He was unable to get any sleep last night because his thoughts refused to stray far from the little miko who now resided within his family's castle.

Ever since she had arrived she had been nothing but a source of confusion and frustration for him. None of her actions were the normal actions of women that he came in contact with. He was not used to a woman that was as forward and outspoken as she was, and while it may be true that he found women that just blindly followed his orders to be extremely annoying no matter how beautiful they may be, he knew that he could never deal with a woman that could not control her own emotions such as Lady Kagome. '_That is a lot worse than having someone just blindly following me around like some lost pup'_ he thought, a frown gracing his features. _'If we were to actually get married I am sure this Sesshomaru would end up strangling the woman to death'_

Just thinking about the incident at the dinner table last night made Sesshomaru want to kill something. Not only had the girl had the audacity to insult him, she had made him lose control and show, to all present, just how upset she had managed to make him. In front of his father none-the-less, even his father had showed more control when she all but called him a liar at his own table.

As if his pride had not suffered enough, the woman still had managed to save face after her little farce and come out the victim when, in truth, she was everything but.

Sesshomaru was not stupid, he had noticed the way that, even the miko's face had kept the same emotionless façade, she had been stealthily gathering her purifying powers. He was sure that all in the dining hall had felt the powerful spiritual charge in the air, and while he knew her powers wouldn't be able to kill him, his beast had still roared at the challenge she had unknowingly declared.

He would not have soiled his honor and killed her that night, and his father had truly insulted his pride when he asked aloud if he had any intentions of doing so. Even though he knew his father had only asked the question because he knew of the inner battle Sesshomaru was having with his inner beast to not answer the foolish girl's challenge, being a great dog demon himself.

While it was acceptable for a mated female to contest her husband's decisions at times, but she was expected to submit to her alpha once he had laid down the law, and that was precisely what Kagome had failed to do. '_The longer I spend around the eastern princess the more certain I am that we can never find happiness and acceptance in each other. I was willing to give her a chance, however now that we have met, I know for sure that I must find some way to escape this marriage.'_

Suddenly remember his father's words after Lady Kagome left, Sesshomaru quickly reminded himself to schedule an appointment with his father between his morning scouting trip and other duties, to discuss his strange words spoken with regards to their marriage. With renewed determination, Sesshomaru walked into his personal bath to prepare for his day, and the long and tiring conversation that was sure to occur between him and Lord InuTaisho._ 'I will receive an answer this day, or this marriage shall move no further than it already has' _he declared, finding himself wishing that his days of ruling these lands would come sooner rather than later.

His frown unconsciously deepened as his thoughts unintentionally wandered to thoughts of what the little miko was planning on doing this day, and whether or not their paths would cross. Would she try to avoid him he wondered, a small smirk turning up one corner of his mouth as he thought of any tiny amount of fear or discomfort he might stir in her. Quickly finishing his bath and getting dressed in his traditional red and white traveling _hakama_, Sesshomaru began to carry out his first tasks of the day.

* * *

Kagome stretched like a lazy cat in her futon as she allowed herself to slowly come out of her slumber. She had been allowed to sleep in as late as she pleased today. '_Probably because they thought I needed to recover after the little stand-off between me and Lord Sesshomaru'_ she thought skeptically. She was not so weak as to let something like that get her down.

"Besides he started it" she said aloud, quite pleased with her actions "I just finished it"

Her actions could only further her goals of being sent from the castle by the time her parents arrived. She now only had four days, and she had to admit that she had made little-to-no progress. I am sure that Sesshomaru is as reluctant as I am to be joined in marriage so she really could not understand why both their parents would be so adamant about the two getting married.

Kagome had not forgotten the way that Lord InuTaisho had tried to avoid answering her questions at the dinner last night. Lord InuTaisho's actions last night had inadvertently given her a greater cause for concern other than just the issue with regards to her room placement. Now she was almost sure that there was more to the entire marriage arrangement that neither she nor Sesshomaru knew about. Although judging from Sesshomaru's interest in the conversation between her and InuTaisho, '_Before he so rudely interrupted_' she thought scowling, he had the same suspicions as she now had.

"If Lord Iciness had just kept his mouth shut maybe I would have been able to finally get some answers for the both of us" she said thoroughly frustrated with the western prince.

"My Lady, are you awake?" She heard Sango call from outside of her door.

Eyes widening to enormous proportions and heart skipping a beat "Yes, come in Sango" She quickly replied.

'_I have to be more careful'_ Kagome thought admonishing herself '_The walls are thin, what if someone other than Sango were to hear me'_ Immediately thinking of that certain someone who she **really **didn't desire to overhear, Kagome couldn't help but to feel a little quake of nervousness at the imagined scenario that quickly unfolded in her mind. She was no fool she knew that there were many demons in this kingdom that could possibly very easily kill her, although she hadn't really met many of them so far, one of them though, being Lord Sesshomaru.

Kagome finally rose out of the futon as Sango slid the door closed behind her. "I heard your voice and I thought I would come and see if you needed my help with anything before I continued my duties" Sango said smiling at her.

"Just how loud was I?" Kagome asked, unable to shake the fear of someone having overheard her.

"Not loud at all my Lady, the only reason I was able to hear you was because I was close to your door" Sango then started blushing hard and waving her hands as she saw Kagome's amused and questioning face.

"Why my dear Sango, were you eavesdropping on me?" Kagome asked, barely able to keep back her laughter as Sango's face grew redder and redder.

"No! my Lady I swear! I merely happened to be passing by I would never…"

"It's okay Sango I was only kidding" Kagome said laughing "Besides what did I say about calling me 'My Lady' when alone" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, Kagome" she replied, smiling at the floor.

"Much better"

"Is there anything in particular you wanted to do today" Sango asked, looking at Kagome again.

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is." she started "First I was thinking I would walk around the inner garden for a bit and then…"

"Yes, what is it" she asked, at seeing Kagome's thoughtful look.

"Well…I was wondering if you could find a way to schedule me an appointment to meet with Lord InuTaisho today" Kagome finished, looking hopefully at Sango.

Her eyes widening at Kagome's request "Well, Lord InuTaisho might be busy..." she started "but seeing how the request would be coming from you, I might be able to see what I can do"

"Oh thank you Sango" Kagome exclaimed happily.

She would have waited to see him at dinner, that was if they were having dinner together again, but she did not wish to be interrupted the next time she tried to find answers. Plus Lord InuTaisho might be more inclined to answer her if they were alone.

After bathing and allowing Sango to help her get dressed, Kagome left her room and started to walk towards the guest's gardens with Sango following behind her. No longer hearing Sango's footsteps behind her, Kagome stopped to look behind her only to find Sango looking at her with a question in her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked slightly concerned, think that maybe she had accidently went the wrong way and was headed to some forbidden part of the castle or something.

"Oh nothing" she began "I was just wondering why you were going to the guest garden when you could go to the family garden. It's much prettier."

"Oh, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to go to the royal family's side of the castle before the wedding" Kagome said thoughtfully, placing a delicate finger on her lip.

"Of course you are" Sango said "You are under no castle restrictions"

So she wasn't under castle restrictions and could move about freely as long as she stayed inside, but she noticed that Sango hadn't said that she was under _no_ restrictions.

"So am I under any **other** restrictions" Kagome asked her.

"I'm sorry, I thought Lord InuTaisho had told you." she said, her eyebrows drawing together "He must have forgot"

"Forgot what?" Kagome asked.

"I am sorry but it is not my place to tell you My Lady I'm sure that he will have remembered by the time you see him and will take it upon himself to explain to you" Sango quickly replied.

Seeing that Sango's expression had completely changed into 'that's all I have to say' face, Kagome knew that she would get no more information from her, and decided to follow her along to the family garden in silence. She was not mad at her however, as a matter of fact she felt nothing but respect for her loyalty to the royal family, she had just decided to put the matter off until she could discuss it with Lord InuTaisho herself.

Finally arriving at the family garden Kagome could not keep her jaw from dropping. She felt as if she had walked into another world and she knew that she could stay in that garden forever and be happy. There were so many plants and the garden was so big that she could not see the far end from where she was standing. There were plants and flowers that weren't even native to Japan, and birds and other small animals that she had never seen before. There was also a stream that ran straight through the middle of the garden for as far as the eye could see. The area looked more like a forest than an actual garden, and in fact because the area was open to the sky, there were actual trees that grew up past the roof of the castle.

From what Kagome could see, the garden seemed to be sectioned off into groups of some type. For example, in one group there were pants that were native to Japan and in another group were plants native to Indonesia. Kagome had always loved and studied plants and flowers since she was a little girl, partly because of her miko training and partly just out of love for them. '_If I do end up staying here at least I will be able to learn and study these plants some more' _Kagome thought, reaching out with one hand to touch one of the strange plants.

"Please refrain from killing anything while you are in here. We would appreciate it if you left things as you found them"

Gasping, Kagome quickly turned around to look at the person who had snuck up on her. Narrowing her eyes immediately upon seeing the smug look in his eyes, she threw all lady like decorum out the window and thought thoroughly frustrated with herself, '_Dammit how could I allow him to sneak up on me so easily._' She did not miss the evil glint in Lord Sesshomaru's eyes, nor his venom laced smirk, and couldn't help the eerie chill that traveled down her back as she thought '_What could he possibly be up to now?' _She did not know, but she mentally prepared herself for anything that he might throw at her, automatically squaring her shoulders and holding her head higher.

* * *

Sesshomaru had gone to the garden to gather his thoughts for the upcoming meeting with his father, when he had seen Sango enter the gardens with the eastern priestess following behind her. He took advantage of the miko's ignorance of his presence, to study the woman who was causing him so much confusion and strife.

She was wearing a light pink and black _kimono_ with two koi fish, one female and one male, circling each other printed on the back. Sesshomaru found her style of dress interesting as he instantly recognized the meaning behind the image. The symbol was a representation of the yin-yang symbol and the koi fish were synonymous with harmony and happiness. The two yin and yang koi complete each other and create a perfect balance of the negative and positive energies of chi energy, which is the life-force of all things on earth.

Her sleeves were completely black, as was her collar ,and her midnight black hair was hanging in waves down her back unhindered. Sesshomaru had to admit once again that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She wore no make-up, something that was uncommon for a princess to do, but Sesshomaru couldn't help but believe that make-up would only mar her natural beauty.

He watched, transfixed by her appearance, as she reached out her hand to take a closer look at one of the strange imported flowers in the garden. Her mouth was slightly parted and the sunrays were making her appear almost as if she were glowing from some unseen inner light. Sesshomaru could not help it as his feet began to move him towards the miko of their own accord.

He did not know what the purpose of his actions was but he did know that he didn't want this girl in his castle anymore. He did not like the way she made him feel like he wasn't in control of his actions anymore, and made him do things that were out of character for him. So eyes narrowing, he tried to find some way to abruptly yank the woman from the inner peace it was clear she was feeling. '_I will make this woman disgrace herself with her own actions. I will make her feel one hundred fold the embarrassment that she brought upon me last night.'_

He would make sure that the eastern princess never forgot the time she spent in the western castle far long after she was sent back to her own lands. '_This Sesshomaru is not one to be messed and trifled with.' _He thought maliciously, a smirk laced with pure evil on his lips. It was rare for Sesshomaru to allow anything resembling a smile to show on his face, but many servants knew that a smiling Sesshomaru was even more dangerous than an angry Sesshomaru.

"Please refrain from killing anything while you are in here. We would appreciate it if you left things as you found them" he said, smirk growing as he watched Kagome spin around eyes narrowing and shoulders squaring in preparation for their impending and unavoidable argument.

'_And so begins the first stages of my plans' _he thought, hold her gaze. _' My father has made it clear that nothing __**I**__ do will make him send her away, but what if I make the little princess disgrace herself? My father would never allow the western people fall under the leadership of someone who is unworthy of the honor, no matter what the circumstance..." _

* * *

**AN: Oh Sesshy how evil you are :( Sorry if you thought I was going to allow Sess start having feelings for Kags so soon but I think the most beautiful love is the love that you have to work hard for and struggle to acheive. **

**I would have put the meeting with InuPapa in this chapter but, seeing as how I just couldn't seem to get my mind into the story until the very end and how much important information the meeting will have, I decided to put it into Chapter 7. But do not worry CHAPTER 7 IS COMING SOON! **


	7. Chapter 7

AN:So here's chapter 7 and I hope you guys like it. I decided to speed and step things up a little bit and Chapter 8 will have a time skip in it, to the day the Kagome's parent's arrive.

Anyway I hope you enjoy and dont forget to read and review...I need you guy's input to motivate me :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of it's characters :)**

* * *

Kagome held the Western Lord's gaze long before she decided to respond "I assure you my Lord I have grown and studied my fair amount of flowers and plants, surely one touch will not kill them" she finished smiling as sweetly as she could at him, trying to bait the young lord into growing angry.

If she expected any kind of reaction out of him however, she was to be deeply disappointed, for Lord Sesshomaru's smirk never left his face. Instead he just moved closer to her, his eyes never leaving hers. Kagome quickly stepped back from him, when all of a sudden Sesshomaru reached out his hand toward her. Sesshomaru smile grew as he took in the way Kagome had unknowingly had stopped breathing, and the pink blush that grew over her cheeks.

'_What is he doing?!'_ she thought frantically '_He's not going to touch me is he?'_

Kagome could not help the feeling that grew in the pit of her stomach at the thought him touching her face. She wasn't blind and any woman could see how attractive Lord Sesshomaru was. She studied him as his hand grew closer and closer to her face. He really was beautiful for a man. His silver hair was framing his face as he looked down upon her, and with the sun shining directly on him, Kagome could not help but to think that he looked like a warrior god with his armor and red and white traveling hakama on.

As Sesshomaru's gaze softened on hers and lost their previous evil gleam, Kagome held her breath and closed her eyes in anticipation of his touch. However, the feeling was to never come, because as she opened her eyes, all she found was that his attentions had not been on her at all, instead they were directed onto the previous flower behind her that had held her attention earlier.

"It truly is a beautiful flower" Sesshomaru said distractedly, smirk still firmly on his face, as he pretended to be completely oblivious to the little miko's growing anger beneath him.

To say that Kagome was furious would be an understatement. Right now Kagome's anger was past fury. She was at the stage where anger felt like happiness. That stage where you momentarily left your mind only to come back _after_ the murder had been committed.

She had fallen full force into the young Lord's trap. He had taken advantage of her innocence and the fact that she had never experienced anything like that situation before. She was completely aware that he had known exactly what he was doing and had done it to anger her. '_Well, that you have more than accomplished' _Kagome thought, wanting nothing more than to hit the smug Lord in his face.

As Kagome contemplated all the different ways Lord Sesshomaru could suffer some mysterious violent death, none that could be traced back to her hand of course, Sesshomaru continued to pretend to study the plant that hung behind her. Just waiting for the moment the princess would finally explode.

'_Surely she will do the same as any other woman who becomes frustrated with her own wild emotions, and strike out at whoever was to witness or be the cause of her moment of weakness.' _he thought, becoming more and more pleased with himself. He could already see the look of shame upon the young girl and her family's face, as they were forced to take their unwed daughter back to their own lands.

Sesshomaru was absolutely sure that the eastern princess would lose control and try to bring some sort of harm to him, lashing out like a wolf that has been caught by some hunter's trap. '_This will only prove to this Sesshomaru that this girl is the same as all other weak humans. They are nothing but beings that allow their own weak emotions to rule their actions.' _he thought waiting patiently, still choosing to ignore her.

However, he found himself unable to ignore her any longer when he felt movement underneath him. He slowly brought his arm back to his side in preparation to protect himself, and brought his eyes back to the young miko. But what Kagome did next surprised and confused the InuYukai more than all her previous actions and words had in the past. For when his eyes landed on her once again all he found was her back turned towards him and her only words were "Yes, it truly is."

Her words were spoken so quietly that he was sure, if not for his great hearing prowess, he would never have heard her. He watched her as she quickly left the garden, but he did not fail to miss the way her hands were balled so tightly at her sides that her knuckles were turning white. 'So,_'_ Sesshomaru noticed '_she did not fail to grow angry' _but she did not lose control like he expected her to.

Sesshomaru was almost never wrong in his predictions, and he was confident that he had seen everything that would hold any sort of surprise for him. He thought that he had figured out everything the human race had to offer, but this woman was making him unsure of his previous assumptions. He was not ready to believe that his assumptions were wrong, and he truly did not believe they were, but he was almost ready to believe that maybe the eastern princess was an exception. Even still it would not matter. The only thing Sesshomaru was sure of in this case, was the fact that he would have to work twice as hard as he had been if he wanted to get rid of the little miko.

Leaving the garden himself, out of the door opposite to the one Kagome left through, Sesshomaru thought as he made his way to his father's study '_I am sure that in time this Sesshomaru will find the miko to be no different from all other human women._' Maybe then, and when the woman was out of his life, his mind would be able to find some sort of peace and rest he thought, as he massaged his nose in effort to relieve the headache that had situated itself behind his eyes.

* * *

"Come in." Lord InuTaisho told Sesshomaru, feeling his son's agitation in his aura before he even reached his door.

Watching Sesshomaru as he slid open the shoji screen, InuTaisho failed to find any signs on his face of the stress he could clearly feel in his yukai. He correctly assumed, however, that whatever was irritating Sesshomaru had something to do with Lady Kagome though.

"Hello Father." Sesshomaru said, bowing his head in greeting towards his father who was seated at his desk, surrounded by paperwork, in the middle of the room.

Allowing silence to settle between them for a moment, Lord InuTaisho moved his paperwork to the side and finally asked "Is something bothering you?", even though he knew full well what Sesshomaru was there to ask him.

"Yes there is." Sesshomaru started.

Even though the fact that his father had chosen not to return his greeting irritated him, Sesshomaru knew that he would have to be very careful how he approached him in this matter. He could not let his impatience or agitation show, no matter what his father said, for he would surely use it as an excuse to change or end the conversation.

"I have come to you to discuss the true reasons behind this marriage between the eastern princess and I." he told him.

Holding his hand up in a request to be fully heard when he saw the look on his father's face, he quickly continued before his father could interrupt. "This Sesshomaru believes that he should be allowed the courtesy of knowing exactly what duties he will be taking on as mate to the eastern princess." He said looking his father directly in his eye. "Especially seeing as how I will be forced to live with her, and provide for her, for the rest of this Sesshomaru's life."

Sesshomaru watched in silence, as many emotions washed over his father's face and he brought his hands to rest in front of his mouth in deep thought. Becoming more and more impatient as the silence dragged on between them, he felt great relief when at last his father finally replied.

"Very well Sesshomaru." Lord InuTaisho said. He stood from his desk and walked to look out a window on the far side of the room opposite to Sesshomaru. "At first, I believed it not to be my place to tell you, but hearing it from your point of view I have decided to relent"

Motioning for Sesshomaru to take the seat in front of his desk, and re-situating himself back into his own chair, he studied Sesshomaru's features as he gathered his thoughts, preparing to continue.

"Whatever I tell you must not leave this room until at least after the wedding." He began, allowing the seriousness of his words flow from his eyes into Sesshomaru's as they stared at each other. "You must tell no one. The girl must not know until her parent's see fit to tell her themselves, which I have been told will be the day after the wedding."

Waiting until after Sesshomaru nodded his head in visible agreement, only then did Lord InuTaisho begin to dispense the truth to Sesshomaru…..

* * *

Kagome had to leave and she had to leave quickly, before she attempted to purify the idiotic demon prince. She felt tears of anger fall from her eyes and frustratedly attempted to wipe them away, hating her inability to stop them from flowing. She did not know where her feet were taking her, but she absently noticed that she was making her way to the front greeting area where she had been lead to when she had first arrived at the western castle.

As she exited the front doors of the castle, she ran over to the forest of sakura trees that she had noticed on her way to the castle, and she did not stop until long after she could no longer see the castle. She briefly felt surprise at the fact that none of the guards in the castle had stopped her. In fact as she thought back, she noticed that in her desperate dash to get away, she had not seen any guards whatsoever. This was a highly unusual thing, seeing as how she had seen plenty guards on her and Sango's way to the garden, and during her short stay here so far.

Standing still in the middle of the grove of trees, Kagome suddenly felt all previous feelings of agitation disappear as a feeling of great unease overtook her. Looking around at her current surroundings, Kagome could not dismiss the feeling that she was not alone. Not only that but she was sure that that someone was presently watching her.

"Who's there?" she called out loudly. Actually praying that despite the fact that she had been crying, no matter that they had not been tears of sadness, that it was Sesshomaru who had followed and was spying on her.

Feeling like someone was standing behind her, she quickly whipped her body around only to find no one there.

"Sesshomaru is that you!?" she asked, forgetting to add the respectful title in her fear.

Suddenly hearing a deep resounding laugh in the direction that she had just been facing Kagome, quickly turned back around, only to once again find nothing but the same trees that had been there the last time she looked.

Deciding she had finally had enough, and to return back to the castle to the safety of her own room to sort through her turbulent thoughts, she turned to run back in the direction of castle. However, before she could take another step a menacing voice rang through the trees.

"**Do not worry yourself little miko of the east, soon all of your and your parent's troubles regarding this marriage will be laid to rest" **it said laughing once again "**They were foolish enough to think that I would not find out about their plans, but they did not escape my notice." **

As the voice gradually faded away, its last statement was** "Rest assured all will be revealed to you and those around you soon enough"**

As the voice faded away, Kagome found no assurance in its words. And after looking around once more, only to not find any signs of its speaker, she ran as fast as she could back to the safety of the her room and the castle guards.

* * *

**AN: So I know I said that the meeting would be in this chapter and it would hold alot of important info,and I didn't completely lie **

**(^-^), but once I started writing the chapter it just didn't seem to flow that way. So this is what came out but I PROMISE the next chapter all will become clear :D**

**Because there is a lot to write however, it may take me awhile to complete Chap 9 :( but I promise it will be worth the wait! **

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I may be raising the rating on this story from T to M for future purposes but I want your feedback first. So please leave a YAY or NAY in a comment if you do or do not want this change to occur **


	8. Chapter 8

AN: First off, I want to apologize to all my readers for taking so long to update (I currently have over 3,500 views! :D), school has been absolutely kicking my butt because we're so close to final exams. Also thank you guys so much for your feedback about the rating! As you can see I decided to follow it :)

Second, I know that I said a lot of things would be revealed in this chapter but my muse has a mind of it's own when it comes to writing these stories, so I have decided that I'm going to stop promising for something to happen in upcoming chapters and to just roll with the punches. My muse is very stubborn when it comes to things going her way. (whispers discretely so she won't hear)

Well anyway here's Chapter 8, I hope you guys enjoy and please don't forget to leave review, even if it's small ) your review's mean everything to me!

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Inuyasha, sexy Sesshomaru, or any of the other Inuyasha characters, I do own any OC's that may appear in this story though ;P**

* * *

It had been four days since the strange incident had happened to her in the forest near the castle. Since then she hadn't really seen too much of Lord Sesshomaru. And when she did, he refused to say much of anything to her or even look at her for that matter. Not that he paid too much attention to her before, she reminded herself. But now, on whatever rare occasion she was in his presence, she couldn't help but feel that his feelings of displeasure towards her had increased tenfold.

Part of her was happy with this new change in their relationship because it meant that she wouldn't be forced into carrying on unnecessary conversation with him. Something that she had no desire to do after the incident in the garden. But this new status change also didn't help her further her goals in any sort of way, she thought despairingly.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Kagome had also noticed in the brief time she had spent around the western prince, that some _extreme_ change had come about and it very much seemed like Sesshomaru was now ready to accept the marriage arrangement. Now this didn't mean that he was pleased with the upcoming wedding, actually he was far from it. But for some unknown reason, she could tell that he had stopped fighting against it. This dramatic change had completely thrown Kagome off, as she was relying partially on Lord Sesshomaru unwillingness to get her out of this horrible situation she was in.

Now that Sesshomaru had decided to join the party of people who wished to throw her into this hell called marriage, Kagome it seemed, was the only one left who was fighting for the wedding to never take place. This left her at a high disadvantage and to tell the truth she had completely run out ideas. It very much seemed that this marriage was going to take place whether she wanted it to or not.

It was not uncommon for women to be placed in unhappy and un-loving marriages, Kagome reminded herself, trying to remain optimistic. '_Plus who knows something could still happen._' She thought, sounding crazy even to herself. '_Some miraculous, unlikely, disastrous, event that would prevent me from marrying the demon prince_'

Kagome, in a moment of panic, had even thought about running away. Convincing herself for a moment that being a wandering unknown nomad, and living a life poverty, would be better than spending the rest of her days as Lord Sesshomaru's mate. The only thing that changed her mind, and made her decide to stay, was the thought of what her disappearance would do to her parents. '_Besides, I doubt I could have made it very far with a whole kingdom of demons looking and sniffing around for me_' she thought skeptically.

Even though her parents were forcing her into a marriage that she wanted nothing to do with, Kagome knew that they were only doing what they _thought_ was the best thing for her. She knew that, what they were forcing her to do, they were doing so out of love '_The wrong kind of love' _in her opinion '_but love all the same.' _

Her thoughts leaving those of her parents Kagome began to remember the strange events that took place on the day when she had run, terrified, from the forest. Upon finally being able to move her feet from the spot they had been rooted to, she remembered running as fast as her feet could carry her back to the castle and straight to Lord InuTaisho's office, not caring that she didn't have an official appointment or not.

However, she wasn't foolish enough to just bust into his office without at-least knocking first. '_Funny how her fear of Lord InuTaisho's wrath could even manage to break through the paralyzing fear that she had felt at that moment_' Kagome thought, laughing slightly at herself. But as soon as she heard him acknowledge her presence and give her permission to enter, she immediately threw open the large doors to his office. Almost collapsing from the effort used to push open the heavy doors that were about the height of three tall men, and the toll the run back to the castle had taken out of her.

She stood leaning on the doorway for a moment while she tried to gather her breath enough to speak. She had been shocked to find that InuTaisho was not alone and that now, both he and Lord Sesshomaru stood looking wide eyed at her show of great strength and harried appearance.

"Kagome?" Lord InuTaisho asked, reaching towards the small woman's frame thrown off by her distressed appearance. "Is something wrong?"

Kagome gaze immediately locked onto Sesshomaru's gaze and held it until he looked away. '_The bastard probably thought that she was here to tell on him to his father about the incident that happened in the garden'_ she thought with a scowl on her face. She felt all her previous fear fade away, forgotten for the moment, and quickly beginning to be replaced with the fury she had felt earlier.

Kagome's infuriated look toward his son did not go unnoticed by Lord InuTaisho, and his disapproving and accusing gaze immediately met Sesshomaru's.

"This Sesshomaru assures you that I have nothing to do with this woman's distress" Sesshomaru said, his eyes narrowing at his father's suspicion.

'_Sure'_ Kagome thought, completely ready to mentally lay the blame all on him '_you're the whole reason I ran outside anyway'_

"Well child, does he tell the truth?" Lord InuTaisho asked, now looking at Kagome again.

"This Sesshomaru does not _lie._" Sesshomaru said through his teeth, growling in his chest at his father's obvious distrust.

Sesshomaru quickly turned his head to look at Kagome, daring her with his eyes to claim otherwise. Even Kagome had to admit she had been a bit scared of him at that moment, if looks could kill she would have been slain on the spot. She could tell that his honor was one of things Sesshomaru held to be of the upmost importance and he would not allow anyone to falsely tarnish it.

Even though she had been scared, she could not pass up the small chance to get him back for what happened in the garden, and took the opportunity to further irritate him. She remained silent at Lord InuTaisho question and made sure to make it look as if she was really contemplating her answer, immediately receiving a growl from Lord Sesshomaru as a result.

She didn't have to try too hard however, because in truth she was thinking back over the incident that had happened in the forest. Now that her initial fear was gone she could now calmly think about the events that had happened. Now that she was much calmer she began to wonder if the whole event had been a figment of her imagination, brought about by all her recent stress.

As a matter of fact, the more she tried to recall the memory of what happened, the more crazy the incident seemed to her. From the sudden disappearance of the guards, when surely if something that extreme had happened, she would not have interrupted a seemingly calm meeting between Lord InuTaisho and his son. To a strange presence going unnoticed this close to castle premise and the royal family.

After carefully examining her thoughts, Kagome decided that it would be better if she refrained from telling Lord InuTaisho about the incident, seeing as to how she wasn't even sure if she was allowed outside castle grounds in the first place. It's not like she would be planning to take any more "outdoor exploration" trips anytime soon, and the last thing she needed was for him to increase the already heavy security they had her under.

After laying Lord InuTaisho's mind to rest and assuring him that Sesshomaru wasn't the reason she had come barging into his office like a wild woman, she began to come up with a bunch of miscellaneous excuses for her strange actions. Kagome blushed in embarrassment as she recalled a few of the stupid things she had claimed had disturbed her that day. One of them being, that she had suddenly forgotten the day her parents were supposed to arrive and that she couldn't "for the life of her", remember what day the wedding was even supposed to take place or what she was supposed to wear.

She had made sure to talk extra fast, and pace back and forth, and talk about many different things that she supposed a bride would worry about if she actually _wanted_ to get married, just to confuse the two men and seem as if she was telling the truth. But in the end, she was sure that both of them saw straight through her, and knew that those had not been the true reasons behind her distress, especially Lord Sesshomaru, who knew full well her true feelings about the marriage.

After that day she had spent most of her time getting to know more of the people around the castle. She had tea with Lady Izayoi a few times and even managed to make a few friends in the royal guard, as well as with a few house servants. She had even managed, after much fussing and "Oh no my lady, you mustn't", to convince some of the cooks in the kitchen to allow her to help them cook one evening.

She had also played with some of the children of the servants that also lived in the castle. It amazed her how this castle was big enough to house the royal guard and their families, as well as some of the most trusted servant's families, and still not even be halfway full. It truly was a humongous and beautiful castle.

On the fourth day of her being in the western lands, Kagome had been absolutely wrought with boredom and getting on Sango's last nerve with her constant bored exhales, when she had decided to wonder about the castle leaving Sango alone in the room. She had no idea where her feet were taking her, and giving no thought to getting lost, she continued to wonder aimlessly about the castle. Eventually her feet brought her to the front entrance. She guessed it was probably because that was one of the few places she actually knew by memory how to get to.

Upon her arrival, her sky blue eyes instantly met bright amber ones. She could not help it as her eyes instantly hardened in preparation to give the best glare she had ever given in her life. However, the eyes did not belong to who she thought they would. Although similar in appearance to Lord Sesshomaru's, these eyes held vibrant life and expression in them, much unlike Sesshomaru's very own. Soon her eyes traveled to take in more of the face of this new stranger.

He had very long white hair, slightly dimmer than Sesshomaru and Lord InuTaisho's, and he was wearing a red hakama and haori, with a blade strapped over his shoulder. He looked to be about 5'6"and of medium build and if she had to guess she would say they were around the same age, which was 18, but being that he was a demon she could not really tell.

'_AWWWWWWW_' Kagome mentally screamed as she saw his cute puppy ears. '_I just want to touch them_' she thought, practically squirming where she stood. Becoming serious all of a sudden she suddenly began to stare very intently at them, an action that was beginning to creep Inuyasha out.

'_I wonder_…' she thought '_would he let me touch them…_'

"Oi, girly…" Inuyasha called out to the strange beautiful girl that was now staring at him "What the hell are ya lookin at?"

"Humpf" Kagome puffed at his rude words, hands instantly going on her hips.

'_Well he can't possibly be related to Sesshomaru_..' she thought, '_not with those bad manners of his_.' Not sure how she should take his words she stood there staring the dog demon directly in the eyes.

"Apparently a hoodlum" she mumbled under her breath, beginning to walking away, continuing on her earlier journey.

"Hey, wad you say" he said eyes growing wide at her brazenness.

When she didn't immediately turn around, he walked up behind her intending to grab her arm to keep her from leaving. He was quickly thrown off guard however, when the girl all of a sudden swung her entire body around to face him as soon as he got close up behind her. Freezing in his tracks he watched as the girl began to raise both his hands towards his face.

Growing bright red he began to stutter " W-w-what do ya think you're doin?"

'_This girl…what is …what is she doing?!_' Inuyasha thought as the girls face drew closer and closer to his own.

As Inuyasha stared directly into the girl's eyes trying to figure out what her motives were, all of a sudden everything came to a sudden stop as the girls hands finally found their way to his…to his…..EARS!

Inuyasha eyes narrowed, as he quickly began to lose patience with this girl who was now squeezing and rubbing his ears furiously. He had finally come to the decision that girl was off her rocker. But whether she was crazy or not, it there was one thing he could not stand it was for people to touch his ears.

"Hey, woman."

"Huh?" Kagome asked, stopping her squeezing of his ears for a moment at the deep sounding change in his voice.

Looking down at him from her tippy-toes, she found his hair shading his eyes so she could not read his features.

"Just what-" he began.

Kagome quickly let go of his ears and took a step back.

"Just what-" he repeated "the hell do you think YOU'RE DOING!" he yelled leaning in towards her face.

Kagome stood there in shocked silence, Inuyasha still huffing in anger over her, as she tried to process what had just happened. Her silence did not last for very long though, as the realization that this boy had just yelled directly in her face. Sure she had touched his ears without his permission but it wasn't that serious.'

"Just who do you think you're YELLING AT?!" she asked backing him up as she immediately lost her cool.

They stood there staring each other down in silence, both refusing to back down. And this is exactly how the rest of the royal family found them. Kagome soon found out that the young hot head was indeed related to Lord Sesshomaru, and not only that but he was Sesshomaru's half -brother and a half- demon. This was the missing family member Inuyasha, who had been on a scouting mission when she had first arrived at castle.

Izayoi had apologized profusely for her son's actions, Inuyasha grunting in indignation throughout her entire apology, clearly telling Kagome that he wasn't in the least bit sorry despite what his mother said. Lord InuTaisho had just seemed amused at the interaction between Kagome and his younger son, and Sesshomaru had looked like he could find many other things that were more worth his time than this petty squabble.

In the span of two days however, she and Inuyasha had become close. Instantly becoming friends and finding it easy to relax in each other's company as if they had known each other for years. He was still as rude as ever though and she found herself getting mad at him at-least two times every couple of hours, but it was a part of him she was quickly becoming used to. After Inuyasha's arrival she had seen even less of Sesshomaru, almost to the point that she wasn't entirely sure if he was still in the castle or not. Although, part of that probably had to do with the fact the Inuyasha had wasted no time in picking on Sesshomaru and his soon to be wife, and made it clear that he would take every opportunity to do so again in the future. Much to Sesshomaru's irritation and chagrin.

On the fifth day, around midday, her parents arrived and Kagome was thoroughly freaking out now that the wedding day was just one day away. Although she had kept her cool when she went to go greet her parents, along with the royal family, her mother could clearly see that something was wrong with her daughter on the inside.

As her father and Lord InuTaisho went off to his office to discuss important matters, after they were done with their family reunion, her mother followed Kagome to her room, leaving the servants to settle their belongings into her and her husband's room. As the Kagome's door slid shut behind the two, Kagome heard her mother take a deep breath to begin the conversation.

"Mother, please don't make me do this." She began before her mother could. "I don't think I could be happy here" she finished, tears standing in her eyes.

At seeing her daughter's pleading gaze Isane's gaze softened even more. She knew that her daughter was extremely strong willed and independent and that she would have problems dealing with this situation in which she had no control.

"Happy here or happy with him?" she genuinely asked, as she walked over to hug her daughter.

"Well I guess I mean happy with him" Kagome clarified, as her mom drew her down to sit on her bed "We're complete opposites mom. He's so cold and distant and he completely ignores and doesn't respect me. I'm sure if I married him, when it came time for me to take over the responsibilities of my land, he won't even allow me"

"I think you might be wrong about him" Isane began "I am not going to tell you that your marriage to him will be easy, but you must know Kagome, that your father and I would never put you through this unless it was absolutely necessary."

"But why?" Kagome asked become frustrated and rising from the bed "Why is it necessary Mother?"

"Your father and I wish that we could allow you to find and marry your own true love, as we did ourselves, but circumstance do not allow.."

"Enough!" Kagome said pushing her mother's arms away as she tried to restrain her "I'm tired of people keeping things from me and lying to me like I have no right to control my own life! If you're going to force me into doing this you should at least allow me right to know the reason why!" she finished, staring hard at her mother.

"You're right" Her mother quietly said, walking back over to sit on the bed and indicating for Kagome to follow.

'_What?!'_ Kagome thought to herself not believing that her mom had finally relinquished. She wisely kept quite as she took her seat beside her mother. Afraid that if she spoke she would wrench her mother from the sudden generous and talkative mood she was in.

"I will tell you the true reason behind the agreement between the Eastern and Western Lands" Isane began, staring intently into Kagome's eyes and conveying the importance behind her words.

* * *

**AN: Inuyasha has finally made an appearance! YAAAYY XP !, I hope I stayed true to his character enough. Even though this is a SesshyKag story I still love Inuyasha, and his hot-headedness, to death (insert fangirl scream here) I'm sorry that Sesshomaru did not make more of an appearance but there will be plenty of SesshyKagi goodness in the future ;)**

**Sadly I have some bad news :(( being that it is so near to my final exams and the end of this semester for me, I have decided to put off this story until I get out of school (which is around mid-April). There is a bright side though because after that I should be able to update regularly for you guys (YAY!) **

**I love writing this story, so I hope you guys continue to have patience with me and continue reading it as I try to manage my busy life :D**

**Muse: The chapter should be written this way.**

**Me: (whines)But muse I promised the readers...**

**Muse: So what! Who's the boss here?!**

**Me: Um...me? (gets hit over the head with heavy book)**

**Muse: No idiot, me. Now write it like I told you.**

**Me: Of course... I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking (rubs sore head) **


	9. Chapter 9

AN: So I'm back! Even though I'm not supposed to be, and my semester isn't over (ughhh), and we're still preparing for our final exams XP. I just couldn't resist not writing for too long because you guys are awesome 3 (almost 6,000 views!) and I didn't want to do that to you :).

This chapter took a LONG time for me to write :/ but I think I'm finally pleased with the outcome so I hope you guys enjoy and please don't forget to **review and let me know what you think** (*cough cough*) about it.

And a special thanks all the people who did review,have followed, or favorited my story :D (*hugs for you guys*) I'm so glad you guys like it so far!

SN: **Answers to reviews will be at the end of my chapters :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Inuyasha (*cries into pillow*) or it characters. I do however own any and all OC's that may appear in this story and it's storyline ("my precious" Sméagol voice)**

* * *

Kagome sat patiently, watching her mother, as Isane searched for the right words to begin. Finally, after a considerable amount of time, she began her explanation.

"Kagome, you must understand that this was a last resort option for your Father and me" she began, staring directly into Kagome's eyes "If we thought that there was any other solution, we would not be putting you through this. We know how difficult this must be for you."

Kagome couldn't hardly believe her mother actually understood just how difficult this arraignment actually was for her, but she wasn't about to tell her mom that. This wasn't some temporary stage in her life, or one that she could just up and decide that she didn't want to deal with anymore. It was a well-known fact that demons mated for life and once truly mated there was no way to revoke the mating bond, a fact that her parents seemed to be totally oblivious too. '_Or else they just don't care_' Kagome thought bitterly and then quickly reprimanded herself, knowing that her parents would never do something like this just to spite her.

"What I am about to tell you, your father and I took great care to make sure that you never found out about" Isane continued "And we had hoped that you would never ever have to find out"

Isane turned her gaze to the window thinking carefully how to explain what she had to say to Kagome. There was a chance, knowing how stubborn Kagome was, that her daughter would not understand just how dire the situation they faced was and she still might not resign herself to this marriage even after she found out the reason behind it.

"For many years the Higurashi clan and the Ishida clan have been fighting a very long battle between many evil demons and entities, and our duties are far from finished" Isane said, bringing her gaze back to her daughter's.

"This I already know Mother" Kagome stated impatiently.

Kagome had heard many tales of battles throughout her childhood of the two powerful clans of priests and priestess that she was a direct blood descendent from. The Higurashi's, the clan her father hailed from, was a bloodline clan of the strongest Priest's that have ever existed. And her mother hailed from the Ishida bloodline, they were a clan that brought forth some of the strongest Mikos to ever exist.

Both clans had joined together many times in the past to protect the Eastern Lands, and beyond, from all types of evil for as long as anyone could remember. In fact, one of these past battles was how the Eastern Lands fell out of the hands of the powerful fire demon that once resided over it, into the hands of the clans in the first place.

"Yes" her mother acknowledged, ignoring Kagome's agitation "You have the story of how your father and I met, as well as our clan histories, many times in the past. However, there are many things we left out"

After gathering all her thoughts her mother finally began her story. She began to tell Kagome what she had come to know only after reaching the proper age, where she was expected to put aside all childish things, and take up the responsibilities that all mikos must take up eventually.

In the years past the Ishida and Higurashi clan fought many battles, both separately and together, against demons in lands far and wide. Although both clans were not extremely large clans, they were known, feared, and hated by many demons far and wide for their immense spiritual powers and strength. Many members of the clans lived the life of traveling nomads going from village to village and helping all in need, as was customary for mikos and priests, only settling down after marriage and to have a family.

Isane was part of the main branch of the Ishida family, the strongest line, and like Kagome she was an only child. Her mother, Midoriko, had been the head priestess of the clan and her father had been a strong demon slayer. They had met during her mother's journey to a village who's Lord had been possessed by a very strong dream demon. Many mikos had traveled to the village before her and attempted to purify or exercise the demon, but they had either just barely escaped with their lives or not at all.

Some had even fallen into some sort of dream state. A few who had suffered from this had been brought to Midoriko by some of the villagers, in hopes that she would be able to help them in some sort of way. However, no matter what spiritual magic or spells she tried, she was unable to find any sort of cure and could only watch as the victims perished and wasted away from lack or nourishment or some other ailment.

Finally, deciding that she could no longer sit by and allow others to suffer the same fate as those before them, she decided to handle the matter personally. When she arrived at the village she found that the number of villagers had decreased dramatically from the previous high population, and the few families that remained in the village looked as if they had suffered from many years of hardship and had lost all hope.

She immediately began to ask some of the villagers about Lord and what was going on in the village, and soon found that strange things had been happening for about four years before her arrival. On the way to the village, about three miles out, she had begun to feel an immense ominous evil presence and it was by far the most powerful entity she had felt thus far. However, because this was still fairly early in her beginning years as a wandering miko out of training, she underestimated the true strength of the demon.

She had forgotten that demons were extremely deceptive and tricky, and that they will often hide their true power until it is absolutely necessary to use it. After she finished questioning the villagers, the few that weren't too scared to talk to her, she headed to the lord's castle, where she was to learn that lesson the hard way. The demon was extremely powerful and just when she managed to critically injure it, and was almost sure of her victory, the battle was almost lost when the demon began to use an ancient artifact that boosted his powers to even greater levels than before.

Midoriko would have died that day if Isane's father had not been there to quickly finish the demon off before it could fully regenerate, having heard about the village and its mysterious occurrences and decided to investigate it himself. Isane's father stayed with her mother at the village inn until she recovered from her injuries and they slowly became, somewhat grudgingly, friends. When Midoriko had finished her recovery and it came the time for them to part ways, Midoriko had felt a sudden intense calling back to the area where the dream demon had been vanquished. Immediately Isane's father and Midoriko went back to the lord's castle to investigate.

After searching for the source of the strange feeling, she was surprised to find it coming from the artifact the demon had used. She had sensed it during her battle with the demon, but after it had been destroyed she had been unable to sense it anymore and thought it had perished along with the demon. But here it was in the very dirt that demon had fallen in.

As soon as Midoriko touched the strange artifact all traces of the demon vanished from it, and because she felt no evil intent, Midoriko decided to keep the artifact with her in order to keep it from falling into another demon's possession. Isane's father decided to travel along with her mother for a while longer and they soon became travel companions and went everywhere together. They were well known by everyone and highly sought after by villagers in need of aid.

Many years passed since the incident in the village, the artifact remained dormant and had just become a simple trinket that Midoriko carried around everywhere with her. They never thought that there could be anything more to it, or that it was special in any kind of way. Until one day Midoriko was called upon by the Higurashi clan leader to help them to defeat the crazed Eastern Taiyukai demon in battle. The demon lord had been abusing his power and sending his armies out to ravage human villages for many years, in his kingdom as well as in the other Taiyukai's territories.

"For many years our clans fought small battles against the demon lord's minions, but finally we had enough" Isane told Kagome. "And as the most powerful mikos and priests, we decided it was our job to finally put a stop to it once and for all"

Kagome sat in rapt silence listening to her mother's story. She had heard the story, or should she say part of the story, of how the clans came into possession of the Eastern Lands but she had never heard anything about any ancient artifact. '_I wonder what it could be or what happened to it_' she thought '_Or better yet, what does this story have to do with me and my situation_?'

"This battle between the Ishida and Higurashi clans and the Eastern Lands was not an easy battle, and it would go on to last for many years" Isane reminded Kagome.

Midoriko was around thirty-seven years of age when the war began, and she had just married Isane's father and was planning to finally settle down and have children. But when the Higurashi's had requested her and her clan's aid, she knew that she could not refuse and just sit back and hope for things to work themselves out. The Eastern Taiyukai's wrath had reached far and wide and it was of the upmost importance that the clans put a stop to his tyranny.

She began to gather the priestesses of her clan and they immediately began to collaborate plans of attack with the Higurashi priests, other priest and priestesses, and any demon slayers that were willing to join the battle. Even still they were at an extreme disadvantage. Their clan numbers were already small and they were not only fighting the eastern Taiyukai, but his armies and demons as well. Even though mikos and priests would usually never even think of working with demons, Midoriko understood that the likelihood of them winning the battle without the help of the other Taiyukai were slim-to-none, and managed to convince the Higurashi to request for a temporary truce with Western, Northern, and Southern Taiyukai.

All the Taiyukai refused to aid them in the battle, preferring to continue focus only on protecting their own territories and conserving their own resources and forces. The other Taiyukai had fought with the eastern Taiyukai in their own lands for years as well. But it had never turned into anything greater than small regional battles. Because of their refusal the Higurashi's and Ishida's, as well as many other families, lost many men and women. Both sides suffered great losses and all without even getting close to or facing the Eastern Taiyukai.

The battle raged for about three more years with both sides neither gaining nor losing ground. The Eastern Taiyukai continued to pillage villages, all while continuing to send forces to invade the other territories, and the clans continued to thwart them every chance they got. It seemed as if the battle would go on forever in a stalemate, unless one side surrendered, until the Higurashi and Ishida clans received a letter from Lord InuTaisho the Taiyukai of the West.

In his letter Lord InuTaisho expressed his regret for not taking greater heed in the war between lands, than he had. He explained how the Taiyukai, excluding the eastern demon, had agreed to focus on their territories in the hope that once shown that their armies and kingdoms were in-penetrable, the eastern demon could be dissuaded from attacking them. He said that he now sees the folly in their decision, even though the other lords do not, and has decided to aid the clans in their battle.

With the Western Taiyukai and his army backing them, the battle finally seemed to be making progress both clans' losses decreased. Six years later, after being injured in battle, Midoriko was sent home to her husband to recover. During her time there the battle took a drastic turn for the better and it seemed as if its end was near. The battle was now directly in the eastern kingdom with nothing but the castle gate separating the western and their own forces from the eastern Taiyukai and the remainder of his army.

Midoriko immediately set out to meet with Gennosuke, the Head Priest of the Higurashi clan, on the frontlines of the battlefield. Lord InuTaisho had returned to his own kingdom, to protect it from demons that had tried to encroach on his territory while his troops were away at war, and had sent his son Sesshomaru to lead his forces in the final battle.

It took them three days to breach the eastern walls and during that time Midoriko had discovered that she was with child. She was now more determined than ever to end this war, so that her child would be able to live in peace, and with renewed vigor, she and Gennosuke finally breached the castle where the eastern demon resided. Sesshomaru and his troops remained outside capturing and defeating the rest of the eastern army.

* * *

When Midoriko and Gennosuke arrived in the throne room where the Taiyukai was, she had been absolutely shocked when she felt the artifact that had remained dormant for so long, that she kept on a chain close to her heart, pulse with power. As soon as this happened the cat Taiyukai, who had been sitting patiently on his throne while his army was outside being slaughtered eyes widened and a wicked grin broke out on his face.

"Well, well, well. This is interesting." he began his head propped up on his arm, which was leaning on the armrest of his throne. "How did a little miko like you come into possession of something powerful like that?" he asked, pointing to the artifact around her neck.

Remaining silent Midoriko watched him carefully as the demon slowly stood from the throne. Seeing Gennosuke's questioning look at her adornment, and then at her, she shook her head slightly to let him know that she didn't know what the demon was speaking of. He said that it was powerful, but yet until now she hadn't felt any power radiate from it whatsoever, and to be honest she had forgot all about it being around her neck.

Seeing Midoriko's gesture toward her comrade the Taiyukai began to laugh. "You don't even know what it is, do you woman?"

"So what if I don't?" she said, trying to bait him into telling her.

"Well I guess I can't really expect you to know what it is." He said, shrugging his shoulders "You are just an ignorant human after all"

"I am surprised that you have such a big piece though" he said looking her up and down "You couldn't have possibly defeated a demon that was in possession of it, so that means you must have found it."

"Piece?" Midoriko asked surprised. "You mean to tell me that this isn't all of it"

"Of course not" he answered as if she should have already known "If it was, then he wouldn't be handing out pieces to all of us, now would he?"

Midoriko felt sick to her stomach at the thought of this already powerful Taiyukai, have something like this in his possession that could make him even stronger, and was afraid to ask the question that she already felt she knew the answer to but had to ask anyway.

"So you're telling me that you have a piece of this thing as well" she asked.

Grinning from ear to ear now, he looked at her chuckling deep in his throat.

"Yep" he said, placing his hands in the pockets of his black hakama.

Immediately Midoriko began to study him sensing for his piece of the artifact. Starting from his head down, she took in his long black hair that didn't stop until it reached his ankles. He was very tall and had a lean, thin, but toned body. Just by looking at him she could tell that he was light on his feet, which meant that he was going to be incredibly fast. She was glad that she brought her arrows along because if she had to fight him up close she would be at an extreme disadvantage, especially with her newly discovered condition. But just encase the battle did come in closer than she would like, she had been trained to fight with short blades and knives and channel her spiritual powers through them, and always carried some on her person.

He was wearing an all black haori and hakama, with a silver sash tied around his waist and lopping down on both his sides. She saw no weapon on him, but that did not mean that he was unarmed. The next thing she noticed was his blood red eyes, and she was not surprised to see just a hint of his insanity in them. Even though right now he appeared to act relatively normal, it had been said that the demon lord had long ago been driven mad and was highly unstable. His servants and people never knew when he would lose it and decided to end their lives, it could be over something as small as a sneezing while delivering a report or glancing at him out of the corner of your eye while bowing down to him.

"Can you sense it priestess?" he asked, teasing her and letting her know that he noticed her actions.

'_He's reading me like a book_' she thought, irritably. If she kept this up when it came time to fight he would be able to read her every move. Looking at Gennosuke, the both instantly transformed their faces into blank emotionless canvasses.

"HAHAHAHA!" the Taiyukai barked out laughing and clapping his hands "Very good, you two learn quickly!"

All of a sudden his laughing abruptly stopped and lowered his face so that they could no longer see his expression.

"Sadly though..." he began in a quiet voice.

"I don't feel like talking anymore. Now I'm more interested…"he said, voice growing steadily louder "in killing you **BOTH** and taking that shard away from **YOU**!"

Before either of them could react or prepare themselves, the demon lord vanished and appeared right in front of Gennosuke, swinging his arm backwards to hit the priest in the chest. Gennosuke was just barely able to erect a barrier with his staff in to weaken the blow. But the blow was still strong enough to smash through the barrier and send the priest flying towards the door they had previously entered from, albeit taking less damage than he would have if it had not been there.

Immediately Midoriko jumped back from where the demon now stood, notching an arrow in her bow while flying back at the same time. She took aim and let the arrow fly, with as much spiritual power she could muster in the small amount time allowed. She knew they had to end this battle as soon as possible, and the longer they allowed the battle to draw out the less their chances of victory were. They didn't have an extra source of power like the Taiyukai did, once there spiritual pressure ran out it would be over for them.

The arrow soared toward the demon quick as lightning, and it looked like it would be a direct hit, but just as it was about to make impact it suddenly kept going right through him. Now crouching on the ground where she had stopped, Midoriko tried to figure out how it was possible for the arrow to not have had any effect on the demon. Even if he had some type of misting or disappearing powers, just the act of her arrow coursing through his presence, should have injured him somewhat. Instead he was standing there head thrown back, laughing at their feeble attempts.

"Whew, that was close" he said, as his laughs died down "Your faster than I thought you would be if I wasn't faster that would have really hurt. Maybe I should focus on killing you first instead of the priest."

Notching another arrow in response, she dared him with her eyes to try it. Just as the Taiyukai took a step in her direction intent upon following through with his words, Gennosuke dived towards him, his staff channeling spiritual lightning intent upon frying the demon where he stood. The demon dodged his blow and, grabbing the priest's forearm, used the momentum to swing his own body behind Gennosuke, preparing to strike the priest from behind.

Before the cat demon could fully move into position, Midoriko let her arrow fly. Because he was already in movement he would not be able to dodge it. Even still, Midoriko took great care to watch his every move just encase he pulled another transparence act, intent upon learning his techniques as soon as possible.

She watched as the arrow flew directly towards the Taiyukai's face. She saw the moment that his eyes saw her arrow and the recognition that dawned in them when noticed that he wouldn't be able to dodge it. A frown crossing his face, he growled in anger as he had no choice but to grab the arrow or risk it hitting him straight in the face. He was a strong demon. But she was a powerful miko, that he could clearly feel, and if he took a direct hit like that he knew that even he would be instantly purified.

He was able to just barely grab the arrow when it was just millimeters away from his face. The moment his fist closed around the shaft of the arrow, the entire right side of his body was scorched by her spiritual powers and he howled out in anger and pain.

"Damn you, you stupid wench!" he yelled at her, casting the arrow furiously to the side.

Midoriko took no time and was re-notching her bow as fast as she could, quickly stood to prepare to defend herself from his next attack. Gennosuke was now holding blades, that he shook down from his sleeves, in both hands and was channeling his lightning through them in preparation to throw them at the cat Taiyukai. Not allowing the demon anytime to recover he let the blades fly, all of them met their mark hitting the demon in his chest and arm, which he used to block some of them. The blades had the effect of small spiritual pressure bombs, and where they hit, the demon's skin was instantly scorched and bits of his clothes were blown off.

With his haori now in tatters, and just barely hanging on his body from their combined attacks, the Taiyukai stood in the middle of the throne room grasping his chest and staring at the priest and priestess with fury-filled blood red eyes.

"Do you actually think that I would allow myself to be defeated by some weakling humans!?" he yelled.

When silence greeted him he continued "You haven't even begun to see my true power!" he said, eyes growing even larger with his craze. "Did you forget that I have a shard?" he asked.

Instantly his wounds began to heal themselves and his power began to sky rocket.

'_There!' _Midoriko thought in excitement. She could finally sense the shard and now knew where to direct her already drawn bow.

"Gennosuke" she yelled, getting the monk's attention. "Try to hit him with your staff directly in his chest! I have a feeling that if we can hit the shard, before he is able to fully use it, we will be able to neutralize the evil energy that's inside it rendering it useless!"

Gennosuke instantly swung into action, jabbing his staff at spot in the Taiyukai's chest that Midoriko pointed out to him, while the demon lord was still in his power drunken stupor. When his staff made contact, Midoriko watched as the energy instantly disappeared just as she suspected, and let her arrow fly just as Gennosuke spun out of the way so that she could land the finishing blow. Bright spiritual light instantly erupted in the throne room and all inside were blinded by it.

When it finally faded away the monk and miko were greeted by the sight of the great cat Taiyukai lying on the floor, his body gradually purifying into non-existence. As they both made their way towards him they noticed that he was still breathing, and surprisingly his eyes were now a startling green, and completely clear of their previous insanity.

"To think that I, the great cat demon and Eastern Taiyukai, Kenji would be defeated by humans" he said, a small smile on his face as he gazed at the ceiling with unseeing eyes.

"As a reward I will give you two a warning" Kenji said. "The deeper you investigate these shards the more danger you will invite around you. You should search no farther than you already have" he finished looking at Midoriko.

He did not even know this powerful miko but he could tell that she would try to take it upon herself to collect all the dangerous shards, just to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.

"I can't do that" she replied, looking solemnly at the demon lord.

"Heh," Kenji chuckled "just what I would expect from a priestess."

"If you really wish to help us" Gennosuke began "you can tell us more about the shard and how you came into possession of something so dangerous"

Turning his gaze to the monk he said. "The one who gave the shard to me was extremely strong and cunning. He was able to convince, a great demon like me, into thinking that I need something like this abomination to give me strength" he said, gesturing to the shard that now lay dormant in his chest.

"At first I refrained from using it, but soon the seductive call of the shard became too strong for me to resist. After that point in found myself using it constantly, and soon, I found myself going insane from the sheer power I felt from it and being unable to do anything to stop my downward spiral"

Directing his gaze back toward the ceiling he surprised them both by saying.

"In truth, I am grateful to the both of you" He said quietly.

"There is no greater disgrace to a demon like me…" the purification now reaching his chest and spreading fast "than to become a mindless vessel and lose all free will"

The stood in silence as the rest of the demon Taiyukai disappeared. Gennosuke finally broke the long thoughtful silence that now resided in the throne room, which only the sounds of the dying battle outside the castle dared to intrude upon.

"You know what we must do now right?" he asked.

"Yes." was her only reply as she stood, picking the shard up from the ground as she rose, from where the fallen Taiyukai once lay.

* * *

"After their battle with the Eastern Taiyukai, my mother and Gennosuke rejoined the battle outside and within minutes it was over" Isane told Kagome. "Lord Sesshomaru informed them, after the battle, that his father had no intentions of taking claim of the eastern lands. And that it would be up to the clans to decide what to do with it and its people."

This is the part of the story that Kagome knew. She heard about the battle that had led to the two clans taking over leadership of the Eastern lands, and the battles that followed afterwards in order to maintain that leadership. But she had never heard anything about a powerful artifact or shards in any of the stories. She could not believe that so many important facts about the clan's history had been kept from her.

'_And more importantly,' _she thought_ 'why?'_

(**_To be continued_**)

* * *

**AN: Soooo, this chapter turned out to be my longest one so far, and has just a hint what's to come, in it. Just to let you guys know, before you strangle me, the next chapter will probably jump ahead to the wedding ( yay! more SeeshyKag goodness!) and then we will come back to this part of the story where will find out even more of what's behind this strange wedding agreement. **

*****Whenever I write "to be continued" at the end of a chapter, it means that we will leave this scene to be explained later on (but not too much later) in the story. Most likely after something drastic happens(*hint*) where we will need to come back to it.**

**::::Answers to review questions (feel free to ask if you want me to explain anything) ;**

** llebreknit: Yes I do plan on bring in more of the Inuyasha characters, I just haven't quite figured out how I want some of them to fit into my story. As for Inuyasha and Kikyo getting together, ummmm, I'm not entirely sure. But she will be playing a big role later on in my story. How? We'll just have to wait and see )**

** alwayskogacola: First off, I LOVE your username. Second, I'm so glad you like it and I will try my best! It only gets better from here :D **


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Hi guys, I'm back and finally done with my semester! I am officially a Senior in college..YAY! (not that you guys care lol XD) Anyway... sorry about the long wait :( but this chapter is another long one because I was absolutely determined to include the wedding in it.

Whew! X/ this chapter took me three days, and a lot of research, to write. And I think I finally got it where it's acceptable by my standards. I'm still not quite happy with it though but the longer I worked on it the more I began to hate writing it lol. I cant **WAIT** to get to the good stuff after the wedding though.

Anyway without further adieu, here's the 10th chapter! I hope you guys enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review** pretty please!** It's fuel for my creative processes.

**IMPORTANT: I found out that sometimes symbols like "at signs" or marks like border or line breaks don't appear in my uploaded version of chapters so if you find weird things in my chapters or grammar, please leave me a message or review telling me so I can try to fix it. Thanks! **

*****Reader review answers and remarks at the end******

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. I do own any OC characters that may appear in this story, however ;)**

* * *

"Ow!"Kagome exclaimed as Sango wrapped the obi around her waist entirely too tight. "I actually like being able to breath" she said, rolling her eyes jokingly at her friend, when Sango looked up at her apologetically from where she stood in front of her on her knees.

Tying the finishing bow on the obi, Sango finally stood back to take a look at the end results of four and a half hours of preparation, primping, pulling, and styling. As she examined the woman in front of her she could find no flaw whatsoever, and felt nothing but pride in her hard work. Finally deeming her work complete enough to allow the young girl to look at herself in the mirror for the first time since waking up that morning , Sango turned the mirror from where it faced the wall so that Kagome could see.

Upon Kagome's first glance, she found herself rendered absolutely speechless and unable offer any words of praise or gratitude to her best-friend. Who stood anxiously watching her every reaction and expression for any sign of disapproval or dislike. Finally, she gathered enough of her thoughts to form a coherent sentence and thanked and praised Sango for her great styling prowess.

Sango had worked and slaved from early morning, before the sun even began to show signs of its rays in the sky, to make Kagome into the beautiful visage she had now become. Waking a cranky Kagome up to bathe her with a special bathing oil that had been brought from home by Kagome's mother _specifically_ for the wedding night. A task that Kagome had not made extremely easy for her. Due to the fact that she tried multiple times to refuse the use of the bath oil by trying to convince Sango to use a lesser quality one instead, just for the "purpose" of which it was given to her.

"There's no reason why I should use it since there will be no '_consummating_' done this night" she had tried to tell Sango, to which Sango's only reaction was to stare at Kagome incredulously as if she were a mad woman. '_Or any other night for that matter_' she thought, ignoring Sango's avid disbelief. Sango did not know the type of relationship she and Lord Sesshomaru had. Undoubtedly Sesshomaru would not want to claim her in any more than last name, or at-least that was what Kagome was going to keep telling herself.

After failing in the battle with Sango over the bath oils, they had begun the long process of brushing and pre-styling Kagome's long tresses. Sango had brushed her hair until it shone and fell loose and straight around her shoulders. She then piled and pinned her hair high upon her head, allowing some of it to fall down in an upturned fan shape behind her head and took out various tendrils of hair to frame her face. She had repeated this process many times until every strand of hair was to her absolute satisfaction and deemed perfectly in place. The decorative pins and combs were then laid out to be placed into her hair after her dressing was complete.

Sango had left her in her room after that, warning Kagome to not even think about looking in a mirror under penalty of a horribly painful death should she be discovered. During that time Kagome had thought back on the past events of the previous day, one event being the conversation between her and her mother, which had drastically changed her view on her life and her current situation. She did not even want to think about what had been revealed to her by her mother that day, deciding instead tuck that conversation away in the back of her mind for later examination. She had enough to focus on today without going back over that memory.

Instead she focused on the many people she had met after her parents' arrival that day. Some of them being Lord Sesshomaru's mother Lady Kimi, his servant Jaken, and his ward Rin. Kagome had been completely unaware that Lord Sesshomaru even had a ward, and she was even more surprised to find out that that ward was human girl. She was under the impression that Lord Sesshomaru believed all humans to be weak and hated them for that apparent weakness. She never dreamed that he would _willingly_ claim a human into his personal care.

If that wasn't surprising enough, upon entering the greeting area, with her mother behind her, she had been shocked into stupidity at the sight of the little girl grasping Lord Sesshomaru's sleeve as she talked to him about her stay at his mother's place. He had been standing patiently listening to the little girl enthuse about some prank she had pulled on the small demon Jaken, and how much he had flamed in anger at her antics and admonished her by lightly swatting her fingers with a small stick after recovering from whatever mishap the little girl caused to befall him.

The little girl had reveled this in complete innocence, but at the mention of Jaken's method of punishment the little toad looking demon turned an even more sickly shade of green and seemed to curl in on himself in fear. Rin had been completely ignorant of the look Lord Sesshomaru gave the small demon, but Kagome didn't miss the look that promised extreme pain for the now cowering servant, and laughed lightly at the unexpected scene before her.

Hearing her laughter, Sesshomaru and his mother turned their gaze upon her in surprise. For they did not hear her entrance, being so focused on the young girl and her story. Kagome immediately silenced herself, blushing a bright shade of red, in embarrassment from intruding upon their personal moment.

"Sorry," she said, turning her gaze to the floor "We did not mean to intrude."

"Nonsense my child" Lady Kimi began, looking at the girl reassuringly "this is hardly a private area." she finished, motioning to the room around her.

"Of course" Kagome said, offering the beautiful demoness a welcoming smile.

"Well Sesshomaru, aren't you going to introduce me to this beautiful young lady?" Lady Kimi asked her son, an innocent smile on her lips and mischief in her eyes.

Kimi was quite aware of her son's reluctance and disagreement in marrying the miko woman, and was interested to see whether or not he would introduce her as his soon to be mate.

Narrowing his eyes at his mother's apparent taunt he replied "Mother, this is the eastern princess and miko, Lady Kagome, I'm sure you've heard about her from father."

After his mother and Kagome exchanged small bows of greeting to each other he quickly continued his introductions. Seeing the mischief and glee in his mother's eyes grow, just knowing that she would make some witty remark about his omittance of Kagome's future title, if he allowed.

"And this is her Mother and Eastern Co-ruler, Isane." He finished, turning his gaze back to the small girl who continued to grasp his sleeve while now observing Lady Kimi. Who, after giving a respectable greeting to Lady Isane, was now openly observing the girl who was to become her son's mate.

Seeing Rin's interest in his mother's reaction to the miko, Sesshomaru decided to observe as well. Although, continuing to appear to the outside world as if his attention was entirely devoted to his young ward. He watched with dissatisfaction as his mother appeared to be pleased in whatever she found in eastern priestess, she being the only one left who could have put an end to this marriage arraignment.

Finding himself in a sore mood at his mother's acceptance of the eastern priestess, Sesshomaru decided to excuse himself from the group. However before the words could even form from his mouth, his mother halted his retreat by bring him back into the conversation that had continued with his input.

"Your daughter is absolutely stunning" she told Isane "I am sure she will make an even more beautiful bride. Wouldn't you agree Sesshomaru?" she asked, bringing her twinkling gaze to her son.

Lady Kimi found herself barely able to hold back her glee at seeing the irritation flash in Sesshomaru's eye and his body visibly stiffen. She loved teasing her son, especially since he seemed to possess absolutely zero amount of humor. Something he should have inherited from his father and her. She really had no idea at what had come about in him after his childhood to make him act so unfeeling and cold hearted as an adult. There had been a time when Sesshomaru acted no different from Izayoi's son InuYasha, minus the bad language and manners of course.

At hearing Lady Kimi's question Kagome found herself blushing and actually anticipating Lord Sesshomaru's answer. '_Surely he won't be so rude as to tell her no_' she thought to herself, silently finding joy in his apparent discomfort. This was karma coming back around to bite him on the tail for the stunt he had pulled on her in the garden that day, Kagome thought with extreme satisfaction.

However, before Sesshomaru could answer, the door that led to the royal family's side of the castle opened to reveal Lord InuTaisho, Lady Izayoi, and InuYasha coming to greet them. Immediately relaxing, Sesshomaru turned his body to face the oncoming family, signaling to all in the previous party that he had no intentions on answering his mother's question. Pouting slightly and feeling put off by Sesshomaru's apparent good luck and denial of her small karmic revenge, Kagome and the rest turned to greet the royal family as well.

"Hello my dear Kimi" Lord InuTaisho warmly greeted the demoness "I trust you are well and your trip was a pleasant one, yes?" he asked, stopped to stand in front of her with Izayoi on his arm.

"Absolutely" she replied, returning his smile "How could it not be when I had this wonderful little one with me to pass the time." gesturing to Rin.

"Of course." he said "And how have you been sweet Rin?" he asked turning his attention to the little girl.

"I've been great Lord InuTaisho! I had lots of fun at Lady Kimi's palace and every day was an adventure!" she replied excitedly.

"Is that so?" he asked the girl raising his eyebrows in jest at Rin "Well you will have to tell me about some of these adventures sometime now won't you.

The little girl nodded her head in agreement enthusiastically at the Lord, while grinning from ear to ear.

"Lady Izayoi, Inuyasha" Lady Kimi began "how have the two of you been? Last I saw of you Inuyasha, you were just a wee pup. My, how you've grown." she finished, smiling genuinely at the two.

"We have been just fine Lady Kimi, as I hope you have." Lady Izayoi replied, returning her greeting with an earnest smile of her own "And yes he has, hasn't he" she agreed gesturing proudly to InuYasha, who bowed to Lady Kimi in greeting.

Kagome had watched the entire exchange between the families in avid interest, feeling all previous discomfort ease from her body at the sight of mutual harmony between the two women. Apparently the was no ill will between the royal family and Lady Kimi, which only made the reason behind Lord InuTaisho's remarriage even more of a mystery to Kagome. Not that it mattered to her, in truth the only thing that she cared about was the fact that there would be no awkwardness she would have to endure between the two parties, and in fact she admired the acceptance the two women shared.

"I see you have already met Lady Izayoi and her daughter Lady Kagome" Lord InuTaisho said.

"Oh yes, I was just remarking to Sesshomaru how beautiful a bride she would make on their wedding day" she said. And then grinning an even deeper grin, she continued turning to face Sesshomaru slowly "Don't you think so Sesshomaru?"

'_Damn her_!' Sesshomaru thought '_She thinks that I know not of what she does!_'

Or perhaps she did, either way Sesshomaru did not like what she was so obviously trying to do. As if it wasn't bad enough that she had purposed the question in front of the miko princess and her mother, but now she asked in front of his father and InuYasha as well. '_As if I could answer negatively_' he thought growling inwardly at his mother's shrewdness. InuYasha even had the nerve to openly laugh at his mother's question, further pissing Sesshomaru off, and cross his arms to indicate that he was just as interested in hearing his brother's answer as Lady Kimi was.

It was not as if Sesshomaru was blind and could not see the girl's beauty for himself. He had reluctantly admitted to himself many times since her arrival, and the first time he laid eyes on her, that he had seen none more beautiful than her. However, he had no intentions of ever letting that thought pass his lips. He would neither give his father nor mother that satisfaction, he thought, growing angrier by the second.

Sesshomaru had been backed into a corner, and everyone in the room could clearly tell that he wasn't too happy about it, in fact he almost seemed furious. At one point during the long ominous silence that followed, Kagome in fear, had been completely ready to forgive him for what he did in the garden. And she quickly began to think of ways to change the subject, or redirect their attention, before Sesshomaru killed them all.

"Indeed." He finally answered simply.

Kagome almost breathed a sigh of relief, and her shoulders finally relaxed from the stress Lord Sesshomaru's agitated aura had placed on her. However, if she thought it was over she quickly found out that she was wrong. Lady Kimi was not a woman to be denied so easily.

"Indeed what dear?" she asked, framing innocence.

Narrowing his eyes at his mother Sesshomaru almost lashed out her. But then in a moment of brilliance he decided to take a different course, one where his mother did not necessarily win this little game she had decided to play. Smoothing his features into a carefully charming mask, he turned his full attention to Kagome, and watched as she nervously stiffened as he gave her a slight bow.

"Indeed she will be quite a beautiful bride" he said, now smiling at her "No doubt there will be none present more beautiful than she."

And turning gracefully, he exited the room. Leaving all present in shocked silence. None more shocked, however, than Kagome. Even now she had chills thinking about how wonderfully sexy he had looked when he had turned those golden eyes upon her and spoken those words.

Shaking herself back to her senses, she thought ruefully, he probably only did that to get under her skin. '_And it worked_' she thought shamefully. That encounter had set her heart racing, and she was sure that it was loud enough so that all in the room could have heard it that day. Well she would be darned if she fell for his tricks again she thought, steeling herself and brushing invisible lint from her yukata.

A moment later Kagome jumped up from the stool she was sitting on in fright, as Sango announced her return with a loud "Oh wow Kagome! Wait until you see how beautiful your wedding kimono is!" And indeed it was very beautiful Kagome had thought, as she laid eyes on her wedding dress for the first time.

It was made of the finest silk and of her family's royal colors of purple and gold. The left upper half of the kimono was solid gold, and over the place of her heart, was the white swan crest of her family. The rest of the kimono was purple with gold flower petals and green leaves falling down the front. On the back of the kimono was a large tree, whose roots began at the end of the long train that was attached to the bottom of the kimono.

The head of the tree rested between Kagome's shoulder blades and it had many green leaves on its branches. Some of these leaves were falling from its branches while many also lay on the ground below. Wrapping up the trunk of tree was a vine of golden flowers. This one vine flowed and twisted up and grew throughout the entire tree and its branches, enhancing the tree's beautiful majesty, and making it appear as if the tree itself bloomed the golden flowers.

Now after her dressing was completed, Kagome sat, waiting for Sango to put the final hair pieces in her hair. There was also a traditional wedding headdress that would be placed into her hair by her mother before the wedding actually began. Kagome had not seen her father since he had left to talk to Lord InuTaisho after arriving yesterday.

But when she remarked upon his absence after Sesshomaru's abrupt departure, and after Lady Kimi finally stopped her uncontrollable laughter (she seeming to be the only one to understand Lord Sesshomaru's strange behavior), Lord InuTaisho told her that he was simply taking care of a few matters that needed to be completed before the wedding took place.

Standing to take a look at herself in the mirror once, Kagome felt her stomach plummet as the realization that in a few short hours she would be a married woman finally sunk in. Not only that, but the person who was to be her mate was none other than the dull, egotistical, all powerful demon Lord Sesshomaru. Well, maybe dull was a strong word. But he definitely was not as enthusiastic about life and living in the moment as Kagome herself was.

"Kagome?" her mother Isane called, peeking her head around the door. Allowing herself in to help with the final preparations before the wedding she continued, eyes widening in pleasure at the sight of the bride. "Oh don't you just look stunning. I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed in my choice for the seamstress. And Sango you really did do an excellent job, I doubt anyone anywhere could do better." she finished, smiling at the young woman who graciously returned it.

Isane walked over to the headdress that was the finishing piece for Kagome's attire. Examining the beautiful diamonds and jewels that draped the down sides to frame the bride's face, it brought back the wonderfully happy memories of her very own wedding to Lord Miyuri Higurashi. But as she turned around to tell Kagome so, she stopped mid-turn with the headdress lying forgotten in her hands as she took in her daughter's pale terrified face.

"Oh my dear, whatever is the matter?" she asked, fully alarmed. There had only been a few occasions that she had seen her daughter so terrified, the most recent being yesterday.

"It's just…" Kagome began, looking as if she was having great difficulty finding words to express what she truly felt. She did not wish to make her mother believe that she had not found acceptance in the marriage between her and Lord Sesshomaru, or understood the reasons behind it for that matter.

The secrets revealed to her the past day, had wiped all traces of disagreement from her body and mind. Not to say that she was just going to sit back and be a meek docile human ornament for Lord Sesshomaru. She fully intended to have equal share in the ruling of their land, or at the very least her own eastern homelands, whether Sesshomaru agreed or not. '_This is just one more matter we are sure to fight terribly on_' she thought, her despair growing.

"I fear that I will not be happy here" she finished lamely, gazing at the floor. Seeing her mother's expectant face waiting for her to continue, understanding replacing her previous alarmed features, Kagome quickly continued gazing deep into her mother's eyes for strength. "I doubt that Lord Sesshomaru is one to be overly cruel to people he has been forced to be around, but surely I cannot be expected to have an enjoyable pleasant life with him here."

Kagome was used to harmony and love in a household. Sure everything had not been easy in her home kingdom, but she had had friends and a loving family surrounding her, and they were always there to listen to her problems and vice-versa. Here she was being cast into an unknown environment with only a few people she might be able to consider friends and she still was not completely sure if that was so. If it came down to her or Lord Sesshomaru, who they would lend their support to, '_More than likely the latter'_ she thought.

Not that she expected or hoped for different. She admired Sango's devotion to Lord Sesshomaru, and preferred to surround herself with people of honor and undying devotion, than not. But still it was an unfamiliar environment for a girl who had been surrounded by her family her entire life, who would be leaving the day after the wedding to tend to the ruling of their own kingdom, and had never even ventured past her own castle grounds and security.

Maybe she _had_ been a bit spoiled growing up, Kagome thought, looking back at her previous sheltered life. It had not been by her choice however. She had always wanted to explore and travel the world since childhood like her ancestors before her. But her parents made it clear that they would not allow it, and now after knowing what she now knew, she understood why.

"Kagome" her mother began, walking toward her daughter and placing the headdress upon her daughter's head, grabbing her hands in assurance. "I am not going to tell you that this marriage will be easy, but you are a strong and determined young woman. Only you can decide how and what your future will be." she finished, all her love for her daughter in her voice, and tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Mom." Kagome said, feeling her previous will and strength flow through her body. She hadn't felt so sure in herself since the day of her arrival at the palace.

Squaring her shoulders she thought to herself '_Yes! She's right!_' walking toward her room door, her mother and Sango behind her holding the long train that flowed behind her. '_Why should this marriage mean the end of all her dreams and aspirations?_' She would continue to stay true to herself and accomplish **_her_**dreams. Sesshomaru would either have to support her, or stay behind and fume and sulk, either way it didn't matter to her. She would allow **_no one _**to stop her from achieving her goals. So, with brand new resolve, Kagome opened the door and prepared to embark on just one of the many adventures of her brand new life.

* * *

Sesshomaru stood waiting in the vastly decorated grand hall for Lady Kagome to arrive and join him in front of the priest, Kagome's father Lord Miyuri, and his father, Lord InuTaisho, who was to wed them. Because the couple being wed had different wedding traditions they had to change the normal Inu customs into a mixture that incorporated both, Kagome's clan and Sesshomaru's clan traditions, into one.

'_The last special treatment the miko priestess would receive during her stay here'_ Sesshomaru thought in irritation. To him, the fact the wedding would have to take place almost twice, once under the priest's joining (Higurashi religious tradition) and then under his Father's permission (Inu Tribe alpha tradition), was an unnecessary inconvenience to all present. To him the only authorization needed was his father's, and because Lady Kagome would soon be under his name and possession, he felt it should not matter what she cared. He was her alpha and the alpha's rule is absolute, something that she would learn soon enough he thought with some satisfaction. If he was to be forced into this marriage, he would be damned if it would be to a non-complacent mate.

Feeling eyes upon him, he unintentionally turned to look at the source before he could think better upon it. What he found only further annoyed him because what else would he see but InuYasha sitting next to Izayoi, she smiling at him with an sympathetic grin that churned his stomach with its sickly sweetness, grinning at him as if he were thoroughly enjoying every moment of his older brother's misery.

Even though up until that point Sesshomaru made it appear to every guest present that this entire wedding interested him no more than he would find interest in a small ant crawling across the ground. Upon catching his idiotic brother's gaze, he allowed his yukai to flare about the room in clear threat to Inuyasha present life state, letting the other know that he would find no problem in taking time out of his schedule to change it. The hall and all its guests, demons and humans alike, immediately silenced and directed their attention towards him in an effort to discover the reason for the unexpected hostility.

Sesshomaru watched with extreme satisfaction, temporarily dissipating his previous bad mood, as Inuyasha's smile quickly died and he wisely found something else to direct his attention to. Feeling his father disapproving gaze upon him Sesshomaru turned to offer him, what only those who knew him well would see as, an unapologetic smile, immediately dispelling all the guest discomfort and allowing them to continuing their previous conversing. With the guest's attention once again on their own matters, Sesshomaru watched as his father took a small step toward him, opening his mouth no doubt to warn him that he would not stand for any more of his hostile disruptions.

However, before the words could leave his mouth the band, composed of Koto, Xun, Kagurabue, and Samisen (Japanese string and flute instruments), began to play signaling the arrival of the bride. Sesshomaru felt his previous bad mood return, and he turned his cool gaze to the now opening doors, all present following suit.

As the doors opened to reveal Lady Kagome, audible gasps and whispering were heard throughout the room. Kagome found herself lightly blushing as she heard someone nearby say "No wonder Lord Sesshomaru was getting married. Only a woman so beautiful would make him want to settle down". She quickly looked up the aisle to Sesshomaru only to find him, eyes wide, gazing back at her. Immediately upon catching her eye though, he quickly schooled his features back into the same cold look they had been before and directed his gaze to some spot just over her head.

Glancing about her quickly as she slowly walked toward the front, her mother and Sango holding her train and following behind, she noticed many female demons glaring daggers at her, some were even so bold as to silently snarl at her. The royal family, their court officials, and a few royal officers who had traveled with her parents from home sat in the first row, as well as open seats for her parents after the first ceremony was complete.

In the row just behind them sat the NorthernTaiyukai a young wolf demon named Koga, the Southern Taiyukai a bear demon named Rotunga, and each had brought with them some of their own royal court officials (as was required for a wedding between kingdoms). The rest of the rows were just filled with nobility and important people who resided in the western kingdom. The reception afterwards would be more of a personal gathering, and would only allow select court officials, the rulers of the four kingdoms, and the royal families to attend.

Continuing her walk down to aisle Kagome allowed herself to take in Sesshomaru's appearance. He truly was a magnificent creature that only God himself could create, and He had indeed broken the mold. His long hair flowed freely in waves down his straight proud back; his bangs hanging down to partially cover his amber gaze. He too wore a traditional kimono of his family colors of crimson and royal blue with his family crest over his heart, and if she were to see the back of it she would find a design of some ancestral dog demon's true form howling up at the moon with clouds surrounding his feet.

He stood at the end of the aisle waiting patiently for her to reach him, all signs of previous reluctance and ill feelings non-existent. As Kagome looked at him she couldn't help but wonder what would it take for a great being such as himself to willingly fall in love and marry. '_Obviously more than just great beauty_.' she thought, thinking back on the comment she had overheard '_If only they knew the truth behind their relationship._'

Something told her that Lord Sesshomaru would rather cut off his own hands than allow people to know that this was an unwanted arranged marriage. The royal families had wisely kept the marriage under tight wrap from people outside of the family. Knowing that if people knew that Sesshomaru was marring against his will, nothing short of death if even that, would have made Sesshomaru go through with it.

Finally arriving at Lord Sesshomaru's side, Kagome was surprised to see him offer her his hand to help her up on the small platform he stood upon, and cast a quick glance at his face as she slowly took it. She was surprised to find some unreadable strange emotion in his eyes, but before she could further examine it, he quickly cast his gaze toward the front. Following his gaze, her eyes met her father's loving and assuring gaze and she cast a reassuring smile at him in return as he began the words that would bind her to the young demon Lord **for as long as she lived**.

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**AN: Hmmmnnn...I wonder what Sesshomaru was thinking about when he saw Kagome? Maybe we'll find out in a later chapter, eh? It only gets better from here, I can't stress to you how happy I am to get this chapter and the wedding out of the way! :D**

**Just one of the many things I'm looking forward to writing (as a little hint for you guys because i'm feeling generous) is... THE WEDDING NIGHT! (*woot woot* Sesshy smexy to the max) XD let me stop, just ignore my fangirl insanity **

**THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE READS AND REVIEWS! This story has reached almost 9,000 views! (WOW! O_O)**

*****Review Comments*****

** Deathstarling556 : I searched for ways to answer your question without giving away the plot and I found absolutely none lol so I decided to just tell you that the answer to your question would be revealed soon, I promise! :)**

** Karen: I didn't know that, thanks for the info :D**

**CHAPTER 11 COMING SOON!**


	11. Chapter 11

AN: So despite the fact that I'm out of school my life continues to be very busy so I might have to try to update at-least once a week, but I will try my best for two updates per week. I want to assure you guys that I do write every free moment that I get though, so please don't think that I'm slacking off on purpose! :)

Also, it's getting harder for me to write the chapters like I want to while still conveying the story the way I want it to be so be patient with me as a regain my muse, pretty please!

Once again thanks for a the reads **(over 10,000!),** reviews, follows, and congrats on my senior status! (you guys actually DO care! 333 :D) and hope you guys **Enjoy** and don't forget to leave me a** Review**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters. I do however, own any and all OC characters that may appear in this story :)**

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Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose as, for what had to be the 10,000th time that day, he was congratulated on his new marriage. This whole day had just been one big headache for him and he was entirely too pleased that it was finally over. Most of the guests that were staying on until tomorrow had finally retired to their respective rooms and Sesshomaru finally had almost the entire castle to himself. It was a stifling hot night - just another thing to add onto his growing list of frustrations - and he had been wandering around the castle ever since nightfall, not quite ready to deal with what awaited him in his room.

Kagome had long since retired to _his _chamber, excusing herself from the reception almost an hour before its end, claiming that she was absolutely too tired to continue and just had to get some rest. Her early exit had left him alone as the only newlywed present to deal with all the "harassment" from their guests, especially from one wolf demon in particular.

The young demon lord Koga's behavior had bordered on sheer disrespect during the entire banquet, and at one point his throat had almost found itself caught between Sesshomaru's deadly claws, Sesshomaru thought growling in remembrance. The wolf had openly flirted unashamedly with his new mate the entire dinner, even going so far as to reach over and softly touch her hand, after one of his many provocative comments. Sesshomaru would have had no second thoughts about separating him from his head, but lucky for the wolf Kagome had been smart '_when he was not'_ and had quickly removed his hand from her own and put that bastard wolf in his place.

It wasn't that he was jealous, he told himself, it was just that he was protective of what was his and now that they were mated- like it or not- she was his. The wolf had openly disrespected him in front of others by trying to move onto what now his territory and Sesshomaru had come to the decision that the next time he decided to be so stupid as to attempt it again, he would quickly end his life there and then.

Koga wasn't the only one that had attempted to make a move on Kagome that day, although he was the only one who had been stupid enough to persist in his attempts at wooing the young girl after meeting Sesshomaru's deadly gaze. After seeing the beauty of the woman who was to be Sesshomaru's mate, and during the introductions after the wedding, many male demons had made it quite clear to Kagome that should her relationship with the western prince take a turn for the worse –married or not- they would be more than willing to help mend her broken heart.

After one demon had thrown customs to the wind and instead of introducing and congratulating the male first and then congratulating the female, as was expected to show respect, took and placed a kiss for far too long than was deemed acceptable upon Kagome's hand, Sesshomaru quickly put a stop to all future flirtation by using his yukai to basically paralyze the demon where he stood. Quickly taking the hint, all demon's afterward paid their respects to him and only spared just enough attention, so as not be seen as being disrespectful, to Kagome.

Although he could not blame them for their attempts, he thought. If he had thought she was beautiful before today, upon seeing her in her wedding gown he was now convinced that she was a goddess among men. Much to his chagrin he had discovered that, whereas he might find fault with the young miko, his inner demon felt in no way the same. Upon first glance of the miko this morning, his inner demon had sung with pride in claiming this beautiful creature as his own. So much so, that it had been very hard for Sesshomaru to keep his demon's newly discovered feelings hidden away from watchful eyes.

He had been surprised with the intensity of his demon's desire and possessiveness towards the young woman, and having never experienced anything like it he found himself at a loss to control it. This in fact, was the reason he was dreading the return to his room and was now wandering around the castle.

Deciding to try to commune with his inner demon and gain some insight into the reason for its sudden change in heart before retiring to his room for the night, Sesshomaru turned began to head to his private garden so he could meditate in peace.

Sliding open the shoji door and making his way inside, Sesshomaru opened the top of the hakamas he had changed into after the wedding and allowed it to fall off his shoulders and hang around his waist as he made his way to his favorite spot in the garden. Chest now bare to the cool breeze that drifted through the garden, Sesshomaru settled himself down Indian style on the large flat rock that stood in the middle of the stream that flowed through all of the castle gardens. Closing his eyes, he quickly found himself transported to his demon's inner world facing the smaller version of the true form of his yukai.

"**You wished to speak." **The great white dog said, deep voice rumbling through the void between them.

"Hn." Sesshomaru replied, crossing his arms in front of him.

"**You came to remind me of who is truly in charge between the two of us, have you not?"** his yukai said, fangs curving up to form a treacherous smile.

"This Sesshomaru will not tolerate any further disruptions from you in his outside life." He began, his eyes narrowing dangerously "You will do well to remember in whose body it is that you reside in."

"**I think that it is you, Sesshomaru, who needs a lesson on which one of us is the one truly in control." **the demon said laughing at Sesshomaru's apparent growing anger. "**A lesson I think you will find that you will learn better when your control means the most to you, yes?"** he asked, resting his head on his paws and closing his eyes in obvious dismissal of the western prince.

Snarling at his demon's obvious threat and disrespect Sesshomaru growled "You would not dare. If you do as you are threatening to do I will send the woman away, and I will make sure neither of us lay eyes on her again until it is time for us to attain an heir."

Opening one of its fiery red eyes, Sesshomaru felt satisfaction as the great dog demon finally showed first signs of its anger at his words, pleased that he had finally struck a nerve.

"Oh yes, you made it quite clear to me today that you have feelings for the young miko" he began, gaining confidence in his control over the situation. "And unlike me, who could care less about her, you actually seem to want her to be near you."

Now circling the enormous dog and watching as both eyes carefully observed his every movement he continued "I will only warn you once… You will keep your weak feelings to yourself and allow this Sesshomaru to handle this relationship the way that he wishes to." Now standing in front of his yukai again "I think we understand each other."

And with these last words he brought himself back to the outside world without waiting for a response from his demon, a light sheen of sweat on his chest despite the light breeze. He rapidly rose from the rock, still angry at his demon stubbornness and the unproductive conversation that had just occurred.

A inner demon was one thing that a demon, no matter how strong, could never gain complete control over and for a demon like Sesshomaru who liked to have complete control over himself, this fact drove him near insane and made him determined to be the first demon to achieve this great feat.

For a time it had seemed as if he had achieved his goal and it frustrated him to no end that the little miko was the one thing that threatened to throw all his hard work and efforts to the wind. Deciding that he had put off seeing the woman who seemed determined to become the bane of his existence, Sesshomaru finally began to make his way to his room that he now shared with the eastern princess.

He was fully aware that the little miko seemed to believe that the only thing required to bind them together forever was their fathers blessings, and felt his mood lighten as he began to imagine the look on her face when she discovered that their relationship wasn't going to be in just name only.

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Kagome sat in front of her vanity pouting as Sango finished taking the rest of the hair pins out of her hair, once again allowing her hair to fall down in curly waves down her back. She was upset because once again Sango had used her persuasive ways, and although Kagome had been adamant about not wearing the shear garment she now wore - claiming that she would rather die before wearing something like that in front of Lord Sesshomaru - the garment seem to find its own way onto her reluctant body.

It irritated her to no end how her friend talked of nothing but Lord Sesshomaru all while she prepared her for what Kagome would think of nothing more than the simple task of "getting ready to go to bed". Sango had been trying to give her advice about how she should just try to relax and allow Lord Sesshomaru to take the lead tonight. To which Kagome would smartly reply "that there was no lead to be followed and that as soon as Sango ceased her incessant talking and finished she was heading straight to bed."

Sango seeing the girls obvious delusion about what was to be expected out of her tonight decided to try another method of talking sense into the young innocent girl, feeling like it was her duty as Kagome's friend to prepare her for the ordeal that awaited her. "You know there were a lot of demoness that would have killed to be in your place today at the wedding" she started, offhandedly like she were discussing nothing more than a pleasant change in weather.

She hid her smile as she felt Kagome's body tense in front of her at her words. Kagome narrowed her eyes as she stared at Sango through the mirror as she tried to figure out what had caused the sudden change in conversation and in her friends' mood. She had never heard words that rang truer than the word Sango had just spoken, she thought bitterly. In fact there had been a whole line of them to "congratulate" them after the wedding was over.

Kagome would be lying if she said that having countless beautiful women outright ignore her and openly use words with subtle provocative underlying meanings towards Sesshomaru while he was standing right next to her was an enjoyable experience. Even more frustrating than that was the fact the _great_ Lord Sesshomaru had seemed to be totally oblivious to the fawning women's subtle advances and touches, she thought, as she angrily snatched the brush from Sango's hands and began to brush her own hair.

However, when it came to male guest fawning over _her_, the western prince had been quick to find offense. He had sent her warning glares throughout the entire event, effectively making her heart start and stop in sudden fear when his looks had caught her in unawares. '_As if it were her fault that the men approached her_!' she thought, brushing her hair rougher than need be.

Lord Sesshomaru had sent her many strange looks throughout the day, and Kagome had had a searing headache by the time she had actually worked up enough nerve to excuse herself from the reception afterward, from the effort of trying to decipher all of them.

"Maybe if he took time to send some of those reprimanding looks to the females present, they would learn to show some respect at other people's weddings" she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Sango asked innocently.

"Oh nothing." Kagome replied, using the same tone.

"It looks like Lord Sesshomaru is more popular with the ladies than one would think." Sango continued to pressure, carefully gauging the younger woman's reaction. "Don't you think so Kagome?"

Sango was more aware of the type of relationship that Lord Sesshomaru and Lady Kagome shared than they thought. But she was convinced that with time Kagome and her passion for life would be exactly what the demon lord would need to thaw his icy heart. Sango had noticed in just the short amount of time the eastern princess had been with them that Lord Sesshomaru had showed more emotion than he had in years before her arrival. Usually he was like a steel fortress, not allowing anyone to see even a glimpse of what resided within. He had had more emotional "slip ups" than he had in the entire time the demon slayer had known him.

Not wanting to give the now laughing girl anymore satisfaction than she had already had at her expense, Kagome replied with a simple "Indeed."

Catching each other's gaze through the mirror once again, they both immediately bust out in uncontrollable giggles as Kagome's reply brought to mind a certain stone faced demon lord.

"Looks like Lord Sesshomaru is starting to rub off on you more than you thought" Sango squeezed out through her giggles.

Clutching her stomach as she tried to still her laughter Kagome stood up to open the pair of double doors that lead to the balcony. She still had not explored Sesshomaru's room, preferring to only touch the basic stuff that she needed, should she unintentionally anger the dog demon. However, with Sango with her she found herself growing more and more confident and decided to take a look at the view the balcony had to offer.

Hearing a sudden noise in the room behind her, Kagome spun around – thinking that Sango had gotten into something that she shouldn't have- only to find Sesshomaru leaning on the door frame with his arms across his chest, a small smirk on his face.

"I see you have already started making yourself comfortable." he said, an eyebrow raised as he noticed the small little commodities placed on a stand near the right side of the bed.

"Oh." Kagome nervously said, making her way toward the stand with the intention of moving her stuff from where the palace servants had placed it. "I'll just move…"However, before she could even take a step Sesshomaru's voice stopped her.

"Leave it." he said, standing upright and facing Sango, "Sango… since the two of you have time to laugh at jokes I assume your work here is finished and there is no more need for your presence." moving aside so the young slayer could exit through the still open door.

Taking her cue, Sango sent an apologetic look at Kagome and left with a bow and small smile to Lord Sesshomaru. "Good night milord…milady"

After the door closed behind her friend, Kagome walked back into the room closing the doors to the balcony as she went, blushing as she noticed from his words that he had overheard her and Sango's conversation.

"I don't remember saying that I was finished with her." She muttered under her breath as she flipped back the bed covers preparing to enter their inviting warmth.

"Indeed." Sesshomaru answered from closer than expected, rumbling deep from his throat. Kagome froze where she stood as she felt hands trail from her wrists to her upper arms and back again.

"And just what do you think you're doing!" she asked in surprise as she quickly stepped away from his prying hands.

Eyes narrowing dangerously at the young girl who had the nerve to try to deny him "This Sesshomaru is doing what it is his right as your _mate_ to do." and continuing in a patronizing tone before the woman could interrupt him, he asked "What did you think we would do… cuddle?", brows lifting in arrogantly at his last word.

Kagome felt the heat rise in her face and her breath turn uneven as all her dreams of a peaceful _non-intimate_ relationship with Sesshomaru vanished before her very eyes. Backing away from the young lord's advancements, she tried to piece together a solid argument to keep him from following through with his _oh so obvious_ intentions.

She gazed at his still bare chest as she steadily backed away and Sesshomaru continued to slowly advance. Kagome's mouth instantly went dry at the sight of his amber eyes holding previous unnoticed lust in them. Unable to come up with a better argument she finally squeaked out as her back came into contact with the wall behind her "But we hate each other!"

"Hate?..." he said, stopping his movement and looking thoughtfully at the young miko in front of him. "I merely see you as an unwelcome burden… never once did this Sesshomaru say that he hated you." He finished, continuing towards the girl who now had nowhere else to run.

'_Does this mean that she hates me_?' he wondered, feeling a strange feeling in his gut at the thought. His demon didn't seem to like that thought very much either, and Sesshomaru sent a quick warning to it to remind it of their earlier conversation. '_Hmpf_' Kagome thought, indignantly '_As if that's any better._'

This brief distraction by her own inner thoughts was exactly what the young lord was looking for and he used that opportunity to quickly close the distance between the two, placing his hands on the young girl's slim hips to keep her from fleeing from him again. He had no intentions of letting her go and he growled low in his throat when he felt her attempt to do so, causing her to cease her struggles immediately.

Kagome had unintentionally raised her hands in order to put some distance between them, and she now found her hands directly on the dog demon's stone hard abs. The heat that radiated from his body was intense and he encompassed her small frame tremendously. She blushed as she found herself unable to remove her hands for the fear of how much contact their bodies would have after, and she looked up to glance at the young lord's face only to find him already staring down at her, a red dancing around the edges of his irises.

She opened her mouth to ask him for distance but before the words could form, she found her mouth seared by his soft yet demanding one. The kiss had taken her breath away and she stood there in shock as she felt his tongue exploring every crevice of her mouth had to offer. Her stomach clenched painfully as Sesshomaru growled his pleasure into her mouth and his grip tightened on her hips, her groin heating up with a fire she had never experienced before.

She gasped for breath as he finally released her mouth and began to rain kisses on her face and neck. She was surprised and mollified as she heard, from some distant place in her mind, herself moan back in response to his incessant efforts. Her hands fell to her sides, allowing Sesshomaru close the space between them, and she gasped as felt his hard length against her thigh though his hakamas.

Groaning he said "You smell wonderful." and then began grinding his hips against her body. Sesshomaru could feel his control slipping fast but he - who had never felt the need to claim a woman so strong in his blood before- found himself helpless to control it. Wrapping Kagome's legs around his waist he quickly picked her up and deposited her on the bed. Looking down at her he told her, his voice ragged in his throat "Remove it." eyes raking over the sheer garment she wore.

"I…I can't" she said, her face flushing in embarrassment.

Saying nothing else to her, he proceeded to remove his own clothing leaving himself bare to Kagome's innocent eyes. Kagome had never seen a naked man before and now she found herself unable to look away. Sesshomaru was pure perfection and not a single scar marred his body despite all the battles he had been through. Every muscle strained against his smooth pale skin as he moved, and Kagome found herself unconsciously licking her lips as she looked on. Her gaze traveled across his broad shoulders and tight stomach and she found herself unable to stop her eyes from traveling further and further down past his trim waist to very thing which made him a man.

Immediately a gasp passed her lips as she noticed just how _well-endowed_ he was, her first thought being that it couldn't possibly fit inside her. She brought her eyes up to his with full intentions of expressing her thoughts, only to discover that he had been watching her entire assessment of his body with silent amusement.

"Oh I promise you that it most surely will my mate." He said reading her thought and smiling devilishly at her, causing her body to moisten as if in confirmation of his words.

She watched as he slowly lowered his body onto hers and arched as his hand began to touch her under her gown. He brought his lips to hers and groaned before kissing her when he felt how wet she was. She began to roll her hips in time to his movements and gasped as she felt a feeling build in her that she had never felt before.

She felt him began to kiss his way down her body and threw her head back as the feeling inside her grew when his mouth replaced his fingers. Her hands found and unknowingly caressed his back as his suckling and tongue movements increased. Her nails raked his back leaving a small trails of blood behind as she felt the dam inside her finally break, releasing a silent scream as her feelings overtook her and left her trembling.

Sesshomaru growled deep in his throat and felt something in him snap as her scent flooded his nose and mouth. Rising back up her body, he seared his mouth to hers and ripped her gown from her body leaving her naked and trembling beneath him. Kagome looked into his eyes when he released her and found them to be blood red. Stiffening in fear when he suddenly flipped her over onto her stomach, she began to struggle against him until she felt his fangs at her throat.

"Mine." She heard him growl as licked and kissed her shoulders and throat.

She stiffened again as she felt his member slide against her outer lips, and gasped as he began to enter her slowly. Before he was part way in, she cried out in pain and reached back to push against his hips to keep him from entering her further.

"Sesshomaru please!" she cried out when he didn't stop and growled at her attempts. She relaxed when she felt him stop and begin to withdraw from her body. However, her relief didn't last long as he began to push back into her body harder than before. But just when the pain became unbearable he would withdraw and start the process again. Soon pleasure began to replace the pain as she felt his hand begin to stroke her down there also.

Kagome felt that feeling begin to build in her groin again as the demon lord moved in and out of her, and soon the only sound that could be heard in the room were the sounds of her and Sesshomaru's panting. Finally he reached her barrier and, waiting just until he pushed her over the edge again, he withdrew from her body completely and slammed all the way back into her.

Her orgasm blocked the pain and he used that time to also mark her as his mate. He bit into her neck causing her to come screaming again, gaining his own release along with hers. He jerked inside her as she seemed to try and milk him for everything that he was worth; only rolling off of her after walls stopped quaking around him.

Pulling her body possessively close to his, he nuzzled her neck as she snuggled down onto his body. He smiled to himself in contentment as he declared to the now sleeping miko one more time. "Mine."

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**AN: Looks like someone's jealousssss lol. First let me clear some things up just encase anyone gets confused. Sesshomaru and Kagome still have no feelings of love for each other, just lust maybe. I mean who could resist a hotty like Sesshomaru (*psshhh* :/ come on... lets not lie to ourselves)**

**Also, if you wondering why Sesshomaru's acting kind of strange you'll find out in the next chapter if you weren't able to figure it out from this one :)**

**One more thing: I am still taking plot suggestions if you guys have any ideas or things you would like to see. I can't promise I will put it in but its possible :D**

**Chapter 12 Coming Soon! **


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